Come away with me
by Sleepless Love
Summary: Naruto has brought Sasuke back form sound, but something isn't right, why Can't Naruto remember what happened that night? Why won't anyone tell him? Sasuke knowns and will do anything to prevent Naruto from finding out. NaruSasu, romance, yaoi.
1. Mid day blues

Note: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, images, or scenes from the franchise.

Reviews are always appreciated, bad or good.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy!

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The ring of the alarm woke him from a dreamy haze. He stumbled lazily from the sty in which he had entangled himself during the night. He haphazardly trotted to the restroom, stubbing a toe on the way and yelling viciously at the drawer which seemed to hold just a small nugget of contempt for the golden haired teen. After relieving himself Naruto's stomach moaned in agony for not having been fed in hours.

"That's right, after what happened at the restaurant last night, I kinda left in a hurry. Looks like instant ramen for me today"

The young man stripped the cellophane roughly from the container, having memorized the instructions on the box there was no need to take a second look at the discarded plastic. As he sat, waiting for the water he'd set on the stove to boil, images from the dream he'd been stolen from flashed before his eyes. The content of his drams from the night before were different then what he usually saw. There were kind smiles on happy faces, cheers, and embracing hugs. There was a brilliant sun in its mid noon stride as he laughed playfully with his friends, no, with his family.

Naruto saw this particular dream as a reward for himself, a reward for withstanding the agony which crept into his mind during every other nights sleep. It was rare that Naruto woke from his sleep peacefully, most nights almost always ended with him realizing that the screams he heard were not from the forms which occupied his sleep, but rather, they were emanating from his own mouth. A testament to what had been done to him, what had been done to _them_.

He quickly shook the less enticing of his thoughts from his head, in order to maintain the good one's he had seen only moments earlier. Ding! He jumped from his seat in the small cramped kitchen, the noise from the timer he'd set startled him, he blushed at himself only momentarily. "Stupid timer, always ruining any moments I have to myself." Naruto hungrily slurped down the cheap ramen he had become accustomed too. As he ate he looked from his left, to his right, graciously appraising the small apartment he called home. It may not have been much, but it was his, and he intended to keep it that way.

Putting his utensils in the sink to be washed at a later date, Naruto looked slyly at the clock hung just above the doorway of the apartment. "Whew, I still have an hour. Thank god, if I would have been late, Kakshi-sensei would have killed me!" At the very moment he uttered those words he felt the softest breeze of air pass over his taught and unwashed skin. Though he didn't know where it was coming from, he could feel the eyes tracing the curves of his body, waiting to spring in attack. He crouched ever so slightly, reaching over the kitchen table for an object which looked like a kunai, but in reality was a dull butter knife he had used to stir his ramen from before. He glanced at it and winced, "better than nothing" as he prepared for the attack, a knock lightly rapped at the door.

"Who is it?" he managed to whisper through clenched teeth.

"Baka! Who do you think it is? The only one who would come and remind you every day that your clock's batteries have been dead for a month and you are late for training, again!"

Naruto noted that even though he could not see his teammate through the door, he knew that if Sakura's looks could kill, he would have been dead long ago. As he walked silently to the door with his head hung low, he breathed a very small "Thank you" to the door which held the very agitated teen away from him.

"Good morning Sakura-chan! Sorry about being la..."

In his nervousness at having to deal with an enraged Sakura, Naruto had failed to notice that she was not alone. Next to the pink haired girl stood the third and fourth member's of team seven. One looking apathetic as usual, the other with, well, Naruto couldn't really tell, that damned blue mask covered most of his teacher's face, making it near impossible to know what the pervert was thinking. But as his sensei gave Naruto a once over, Naruto inwardly thought "Thank god for small blessings, the kind that come in blue…"

"Ohayo" Kakashi said with that bitter sweet tone of a smirk hidden on his face. "Good morning Kakashi-sensei, sorry about being late again, it was just my clock was all messed up and then there was this dream. You were there and so was Sakura and…"

Naruto stopped dead in the middle of his last sentence, fearing he had inadvertently said more then he meant to. It didn't matter that he was there, it didn't matter what he said, or what he did. He's still an ass, Naruto thought inwardly. "Anyway sorry again, I'll be ready in just a minute!"

"What no hello for me?" The Uchiha knew the blond was keeping more to himself than usual, so just to toy with the boy he put on the act of a bereaved friend. "You always say hello to them Naruto, but never me, have I not been your teammate for just as long? You really hurt me Naruto, I don't know if I can take it anymore" the Uchiha whimpered.

"Sasuke, I didn't realize you felt that way, I'm…I'm…sorry." And Naruto _was_ sincere, that's what bothered him the most, even if Sasuke was an ass, Naruto wasn't trying to be mean, or was he?

"I don't really care, the fact that I can break you down so quickly is a great perk though" the raven haired boy chuckled, not so silently to himself, as he watched the tanned golden skin of his teammate turn to a wonderful shade of blood red. "Sasuke you bastard! That's the last time I ever say sorry to you! You think you're so cool, but really you're just a jerk. Why did we have to be paired together at all, and you know what? I should have left you _there_"

At this Kakashi's face grew stern, and at the same moment a shriek of anger erupted from the pink haired girl who had stood more or less quite through the boy's exchanging of words. "Naruto, how dare you say that, you know you wanted him back here just as much as everyone else. And wasn't it you who tried harder than the rest of us to see him home safely? Be more respectful, you wonder why the village still refers to you as a child rather than a young man!"

Naruto's sheepish gaze fell to the floor as he took Sakura's words to heart. Wasn't it true that he had wanted the raven back just as much as everyone else? Granted he was an ass, and a jerk, and all the other names Naruto knew he was, but couldn't exactly call to mind. He blushed and looked back at a smirking sensei, a huffing female, and a despondent black haired teammate. "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. It's just…" "Whatever, forget it dobe, I'm tired of standing here. Get your stuff and let's go."

Naruto sprung back to his foolish self and plastered on that huge grin, and with an approving nod from his teacher and teammate's he set about to get dressed and be off. Kakashi gave a curt nod, and said "See you all there!" and with that the masked man had vanished. Sakura let go of the clenched fist in her hand, smiled and waved adding, "Sasuke, make sure he doesn't take very long, I'll see you two there!" and with that the young woman had also ran off to the training fields, leaving only the two boys.

"So can I come in?" Sasuke asked indifferently. "Sure, have a seat; I'll be back in just a minute." As Naruto turned to walk back to his room he glanced a smirk coming off the Uchiha's face, the same one from his dream the night before. "I knew you would say sorry again…" Sasuke almost hissed adding a "dobe" just for effect. "Uchiha bastard! I knew you were faking; I'm taking my apology back! That one doesn't count." panted the extremely agitated Naruto. "Too late, you already said it, now hurry up, you've wasted enough of my time" and with that Sasuke took a seat on the blonds tattered couch and began to flip through whatever magazine laying on the coffee table caught his fancy. Naruto simply skulked back to his room, mumbling something about bastards and deserving something or other. Sasuke simply grinned.

Naruto thrashed about his room, cursing the Uchiha under his breathe, when he heard an uncharacteristic noise coming from the den of his apartment. Naruto stilled, straining his ears towards the doorway which led to the den of his apartment. "Naruto, about last night…" Naruto froze solid, "I didn't mean those things I said. It's just, since I got back, since you brought me back, things just haven't been the same. Things just aren't going how I planned them." Was he dreaming again Naruto wondered? Had he really heard the Uchiha _apologize_? It couldn't be. Sasuke must have been watching the television or reciting a play out loud. He never said sorry, least of all to Naruto

"Are you listening dobe? I'm only going to say this once." Sasuke almost cooed these last few words. "Yeah, umm sorry I was in the bathroom, I didn't catch what you said." With that Naruto walked from his bedroom to his den, waiting to see whether or not the Uchiha would believe his lie. Surprisingly enough, he did. "I just want to say… sorry Naruto, I never did thank you for saving me from that place. Nearly three years in sound, I began to lose sight of who I was. I couldn't tell day from night. Nothing tore at me any longer, even the will to kill _him_, however, there was one thing that woke me from my trance." Naruto was shaking slightly from the usually impartial Uchiha's grave words. "What was that Sasuke-kun?" The sudden display of near affection caught both of the boys off guard, and cause Sasuke to look up from the spot on the carpet which his eyes had burned into while he spoke. Naruto quickly corrected himself and tried to explain "Sorry it was just… anyway continue with your story Sasuke," feeling as though he had dodged a bullet, Naruto was glad when Sasuke started talking again. "I don't think I've ever heard him talk this much, something is wrong. Definitely wrong." Naruto mused to himself. Sasuke started speaking again, "I just wanted to say thanks is all, I would rather be here, at home," Sasuke thought about word home for a moment, deciding he liked the ring to it. "than back there with him."

And with those few words both of the boy's hearts skipped a beat. All Naruto could think was "Did he really just say, he was sorry, and that he was glad to be back home?" Naruto shuddered at the new step towards an actual friendship the two had taken. While Naruto took these thoughts into consideration he saw that the Uchiha had broken out into a wide smirk, which was laced with a barely audible chuckle. "Hey dobe, forget something?" At that Naruto thought to himself "What am I supposed to say to that?" It was at that moment he saw the Uchiha nod in a downward motion obviously directing Naruto to the source of Sasuke's amusement. Naruto looked down and realized, in his hurried state to hear what Sasuke had said, he had forgotten he had been in the middle of dressing for training, and was at the moment clad in nothing but a pair of white boxer's with a rather large red spiral on the butt. Naruto immediately made to cover his 'manhood' and rushed back into his bedroom where he promptly slammed the door shut and hit his forehead rather hard with his wrist, as if to punish himself for his stupidity.

"Today is going to be a bad day, what am I talking about? Today is already a bad day…"

Meanwhile Sasuke just snickered as his chuckles had died down considerably. That idiot Naruto never could pay attention to anything around him. He's going to get himself killed one of these days. But come to think about it, when did he get so strong. I hadn't realized he had gained so much muscle, but then again, I guess it's not really surprising, after the few years of hard training he was put through he should have something to show for it." Sasuke was lost in thought. Remembering his time in sound, as well as the rescue mission which did more then save him from the clutches of that mad man, but saved him from himself. He was so aloof he had failed to realize there was a very upset Naruto standing in the doorway, with his hands in his pockets and his eyes centered on Sasuke.

"Sorry about that, I had kinda forgot to finished getting dressed" Naruto said in a tone lower than a whisper, almost so low the raven hair boy had nearly missed it.

"Whatever dobe. Are you ready yet, I am not going to be held responsible for you being late, or making me late for that matter. Let's get going. Idiot." Whether in jest or in sincerity Sasuke almost had the urge to ask the sun flower of a boy whether or not he worked out, but the cliché made the Uchiha's inside twitch with disgust. "As if we're friends. He did me a favor is all, nothing more. It was just his mission, he did as he was assigned to do. Had I had the same mission, the outcome would have been no different, I probably would have done it quicker anyway. But why can't I stop thinking about what he said before we reached the village that day. No matter, it's unimportant." Sasuke spoke only too himself, wondering why he suddenly had the thoughts at all.

Without realizing it, Sasuke was already standing on the outside of the blond's apartment. Behind him Naruto was locking the door and making sure he had everything he needed for training. "You ready to go teme?" Naruto asked almost coyly. "I was ready before you woke up this morning loser, hurry and let's get this over with, I have other things I need to do today." With that both boys took off for the training field which held their teammate and mentor. Unwittingly as they walked each tried to trot a little faster. Slow at first, their leisurely walk turned into a slight jog, which morphed into a quick run and by the time the training field came into view, the two boys were in a mad dash to beat the other to the finish line. It was an unspoken race, to which both had agreed, however, it seemed that the Uchiha had seemed a little more desperate than usual to finish first.


	2. Only he didnt know

Note: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters within that show.

Reviews are great, bad or good let me know? Any ideas for story lines, I'd like to hear them.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2.

* * *

Slowly the boys regained their breath. It wasn't unusual that the two seemed to challenge one another whenever the opportunity presented itself. The boys panting grew thinner, neither would ever admit to being out of breath, even though the distance from Naruto's apartment to the training grounds was well over three miles.

Through a thin blue mask Kakashi bit his lip softly so as to not give away any of the thoughts which danced through his mind at the moment. "They still don't see it, what a shame" the silver haired man mused.

No one inhabiting the training grounds spoke that day, a silent nod from their teacher was all that was necessary for the team to work diligently on pushing the limits of their bodies. After five and a half hours of running, jumping and sparring, the young teens slumped to the ground beneath a rather large elm. Each one of them breathed a sigh of relief when their sensei called practice to an end for the day.

"Good work all but I think that's going to be it for today. Your free to go for the weekend, and Naruto, please remember that clocks need batteries to run…" the masked man grinned at the expression which darted his way.

"You're the one that's always late. Whatever, anyway… Sakura-Chan… would you like to go grab some lun—"the blond was cut off mid sentence.

"No Naruto." The pink haired girl said more sharply than she had intended. "Sasuke has agreed to help me prepare for a medical exam Tsunade is holding for me." Sakura could see the optimism drain from the face of her golden skinned teammate.

"Has it really been four years? Four years of Naruto asking me out, and still I say no, but he persists so wildly. When will he understand I don't care for him _that _way?" Sakura was lost deep in thought, and had failed to realize that Naruto had departed.

"Sasuke, where did Nar—"Sakura asked with a confused pout on her face.

"He stomped off after you said he would never understand that you didn't care for him" Sasuke said in his regular lowly tone.

"What? I didn't think I had said that out loud, he must be so upset… Should I go after him and apologize?" Sakura almost whimpered. Sasuke simply nodded in the negative and said "What would be the point, he wouldn't listen to you. Leave him, don't we have plans?"

Sakura snapped to at hearing the icy cold tone in Sasuke's usually empty voice. "I guess your right, he'll cool down and I'll speak to him tomorrow."

With those words the two left to the Hokage's office, walking closer to each other than normal. Sasuke noticed the increased intimacy, but played it off as the pink haired girl's inattention to the current situation.

"She must still be thinking about…him." Sasuke simply lowered his stare a bit and continued to walk without uttering a word.

Meanwhile Naruto, with pocketed hands and his forehead protector covering just the top arches of his brows, slowly walked towards his normal hang out after a hard day's training. He poured himself into one of the booths near the back of Ichiraku, not feeling up to speaking to the owner and his daughter, nor having any onlooker's gawk at him as was normal for the boy. For some reason, he lacked either the energy or the will to keep up appearances. After the waitress took his order, Naruto rested his head gently on the table, he was more tired than usual, and training had been rather easy that morning, but something just didn't feel right. As he contemplated this, the lids of his eyes which had only minutes before been wide with anticipation of eating with Sakura, were now heavy with the disdain he felt at being alone, _again_.

Naruto's mind lazily retraced the conversation from the night before, and the events prior to it. The night had been the same as any other night. The sky was clear, and if one had the time, he could lay on his back and count every star in the heavens. Naruto's pace was sure and steady that evening, he had wondered briefly why he had a sudden feeling to go out for a walk, but he was glad overall that he forced himself to. Walking down the streets of Konoha the blond whistled a tune from his childhood, or at least he guessed it was from his childhood. He wasn't quite sure he had ever heard it; it could have been like many of his memories, created to calm him, to give him some peace of mind. It was hard for Naruto because they seemed so real, so convincing, but having no way to validate what he could remember, who was to say they were real.

Anyhow, the blond boy simply smiled and cast aside his negative thoughts. A cool breeze surrounded him, it encircled him and caressed him, for this he was glad, the morning had been unseasonably hot for October, and the tan skinned young male had shed his usual fluorescent orange garb for a less traditional white collarless shirt and a pair of baggy khaki shorts. He stepped in time to the rhythm of his phantom tune, a light grin spread about his soft face. He rubbed his chin lightly to see if any facial hair had yet to grow, and define him as the man he thought he was, but alas his face was just as smooth as that of a baby. A snarl encompassed his features momentarily, but he blew that thought away just as quickly as he did with most negative things.

Suddenly Naruto found himself misplaced in memories. Memories of tree's rushing by, the sounds of leaves crunching, heavy breathes… and did he hear someone crying? Having been lost in thought Naruto had failed to notice the rather large rock in his path, and when he picked himself up to brush the dirt off his clothes from his fall he yelled at the rock. Not as much for tripping him, but for displacing him from the memory he had been reliving.

"What was that about? I can't remember anything like that happening. Hmm, who was that crying?"

Naruto quietly spoke these words to himself, in an effort to jog his memory. After the last of the dust hand been wiped away, Naruto began walking again to the rhythm of the tune he'd been humming. A sudden growl arose from his stomach and realizing he had yet to eat that day he decided it was time for some ramen.

The thought of filling his belly with delicious food spurred the golden haired boy to pick up his pace and reach his destination quickly. As he approached he heard two voices exchanging rather heated words. He pulled up swiftly to a wall outside the restaurant and lowered his body underneath a window pane so he could get a better grasp of the conversation. The two voices seemed familiar, they belonged to his two teammates but what were they going on about?

"Why won't you tell me what happened! Why won't you tell anyone what happened? Is it really that hard for you to open up to me? Your teammate? Haven't we been friends for years now?" Sakura screamed harshly, there was a hitch in her voice and everyone could hear her dry throat scratch itself with her embittered words.

"You couldn't understand. You couldn't understand if I gave you every detail, every thought I had, every word that was spoken. When I came back it was to leery eyes and hushed whispers." Sasuke said without looking up from the ground near his feet, which seemed to be particularly interesting at the moment.

"Why would you say such a thing? When have I ever not listened? When have I ever not understood, what makes you think now is any different then what we talked about before you left?" Sakura still in an agitated state dropped her white knuckled fists to her sides.

"Now and then are two different things. Don't misinterpret what I'm saying, it's not that I don't trust you, I keep this knowledge to myself because only I should bare it. The things he did to me, the things he did to Naruto. For god's sake, the things I did to Naruto…" With those few last words Sasuke slammed his first hard enough into the table nearest him that two of the legs of the bench splintered slightly.

"I know you don't love me Sasuke, at least not in the way I hoped, that was made clear to me the night you left. But there was someone you looked for, before I fell unconscious, you looked back. You weren't looking at me, but towards the city. What were you searching for? Or was it one last look?" Sakura's tone now somber and delicate.

"Stop it Sakura, you know that's not true, and besides it is no business of yours. What I do with my life is my choice." Sasuke growled.

"You know what I find interesting, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's left eyebrow cocked slightly as though she was lost in a mischievous thought.

"Why did you never tell Naruto what happened at Orochimaru's palace that night, he can't seem to remember anything. It was a high level memory wipe that was performed. So much so Hokage-sama was afraid she might permanently damage Naruto's mind if she tried to retrieve the memories."

With that Sasuke lunged toward his pink haired teammate. He grabbed her shoulders tightly, but not enough to cause harm. He slowly bent down toward her ear and whispered "he doesn't remember because that's the way it needs to be. He doesn't need to know what happened, just that we are all ok now. So help me Sakura, if I ever learn that you have something to do with him finding out what happened that night, I will make you regret every tear he sheds. Am I understood?"

Sasuke's deep black eyes stared maliciously into the young woman. She felt as though she was caught in a tornado, the room around her was thrashing wildly about. Spinning and twirling violently, yet Sasuke remained motionless. Once again he showed her the eyes of a man that was capable of so many horrible crimes. Again she remembered why the village feared him now.

With a silent nod she was released from her teammates grasp. A single tear graced her left cheek, it connected with her lips and the bitterness of it made her wince. This was not the first time the raven haired boy had made her cry, and it would no doubt be the last.

Sasuke stood straight once again, he helped lift the girl to her feet, in all of the drama between the friends, Sakura had dropped to her knees.

Sasuke then proceeded to do something he had never done before, he gently wiped away the tear streak from Sakura's face and uttered an "I'm sorry, but he just can't ever know. It's been a long day, let's go home." Sasuke said softer than he meant to.

"All right, I guess it's better if he doesn't, better if he never knows what happened" Sakura tried to place a smile on her face, but she was too light headed and was having a hard enough time trying to stand.

As Sakura and Sasuke walked out of Ichiraku they found themselves face to face to someone they had not been expecting to see. Naruto kneeled on the road before them. He had his hands on his face and he weeping intensely. Sakura looked at Sasuke and back to Naruto, not quite sure of what was going on, or what to do next.

"Why!" Naruto screamed into the night!

"Why won't anyone tell me? Why am I the only one who doesn't know? What is everyone hiding? What did I do wrong? I thought everything was normal again. Sasuke your back now so why? Why am I being left out again?" Naruto slugged his hands into the ground, assaulting the dirt with all his might and leaving sizable holes in their wake.

Sasuke leapt toward the blond in an attempt to stop him from bloodying his hands anymore. Sasuke wrapped his arms around the boy. Naruto whipped his body back and forth trying to break his teammates grasp.

"Naruto, were not leaving you out! What makes you think that?" Sakura whimpered as the two boys struggled on the ground to gain an upper hand.

"Stop lying! Why does everyone have to lie? I heard you and Sasuke, what is it I'm not supposed to know, huh? Was it Hokage-sama that put you up to this? You're supposed to be my friends!" Naruto finally stilled in the arms of Sasuke. His heart beat fast, and his eyes glowed a devilish red.

Sakura broke out in sobs at the boys words. Knowing full well Naruto's past, a life filled with heartache, loneliness and betrayal. She hated that they were doing this to him, that she was doing this to him. But somewhere deep in her heart she knew it was for his own good. She was protecting him, even if it hurt her.

"Naruto, we're not lying to you. No one really knows what happened, not even Sasuke, right Sasuke?"

The dark haired teen sat near Naruto and calmly regained his composure. He let out a slight bark at Sakura, he knew she was trying to get him to either spill the truth, or commit to their lie. Sasuke was visibly conflicted. He knew what it was to be lied to, he knew the pain of finding the truth on your own, whether it be accidental or because you sought it. All Sasuke wanted was to stop causing pain, but apparently that was his lot in life.

Solemnly he answered "Naruto, were not lying to you, you heard a single part of the conversation and you misunderstood us. This should teach you a lesson not to eavesdrop." Sasuke felt his heart twitch when the blond boy stopped crying suddenly.

"_Did he really believe us_?" Sasuke wondered to himself.

Naruto picked himself up once again, and brushed off the dirt from his clothes. "Well why didn't you just say that in the first place!" Naruto grinned cheekily, leaving the other two teens standing in the road speechless. Neither one could believe that Naruto had so quickly changed moods, but he was never one to be stable or consistent.

Seizing the opportunity which had presented itself Sakura excused herself from the episode which had just taken place. Giving a line to the extent of, homework to do. Leaving only Sasuke and Naruto standing in the now dark, empty road.

"Ne, Sasuke, what was that really about?" Naruto asked coyly.

"Nothing dobe, you know how she gets, especially now that I'm back, she never lets up." Sasuke said half heartedly.

"Oh, I guess your right, well anyway I was just about to get something to eat… You wanna…"

"Want to what dobe?" Sasuke questioned.

"Wanna join me?" Naruto couldn't believe he had just asked Sasuke, of all people to eat with him. It wasn't that he disliked Sasuke all that much, it's just…the guy was such a downer.

Preparing to give his usual empty statements about needing to train, Sasuke surprised himself as well by deciding to sit with the tanned boy. Sasuke wasn't much for dinner conversation but he did feel as though he owed the blond some sort of an apology.

Much too the shock of both boys, Sasuke answered Naruto with "Why not, I haven't eaten in a while and could do with something in my stomach, even if it's that trash you stuff your mouth with everyday." Sasuke said coolly.

Naruto noticed that his body was a lot warmer than it had been moments before, his palms were sweating slightly and he was a little dizzy, but he quickly brushed all that away.

"All right let's go!" and with that the boys walked back into Ichiraku. And as the boys entered the restaurant each thought silently to themselves, "I'm going to get some answers."


	3. Day's calm, night's chaos

Sorry about how late the chapter is, my Beta accidentally deleted it and I had to start from scratch. Anyway the next chapter will be longer and more detailed. I was also hoping if you find any mistakes to please let me know so I can fix them, to better my writing. Thanks again.

Enjoy.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto sat down at the bar so that if needed, eye contact could be avoided. Sitting side by side, each of the young men skimmed over the sparse menus, Naruto with little hesitation hastily shouted that he was ready. Sasuke stopped at a dish which was made of white chicken and vegetables. "Sounds well enough I suppose" he mumbled to himself.

The boys gave their fairly attractive waitress the orders and she sauntered away. Much to Naruto's chagrin, the beautiful woman took one look back and gently smiled at Sasuke, who didn't seem to take notice. "Figure's, woman throw themselves at him, and he couldn't care less, idiot." Naruto pouted inside his head. In reality it wasn't that Sasuke wasn't paying attention to the waitress, nor did he fail to see her try and catch his eye, he was lost in the reflection in the mirror behind the bar of the restaurant.

Sasuke could make out two faces. Two faces he knew too well. He could see Naruto's mouth moving, blathering on about this or that. He could see the curve in the golden haired boy's jaw line. He could make out the different tones and hues of Naruto's hair. Even his eyes, as blue as rain; so vibrant, so full of…life.

Then only a few inches away from Naruto's reflection, was his own. As Sasuke sat and stared himself in the bar mirror, he could see that while the scars on his face had faded, and were no longer apparent on the surface, they still lingered deep underneath. He thought to himself that it was ironic that his hair was black as silk… as night. From the outside he seemed smooth, mysterious, but on the inside he knew what lurked. What waited in him. He feared for the very few people he cared for, afraid that one day the boy who left to Sound, would return, and reopen old wounds. As he looked back and forth between himself and the blond, all he could hear in the crowded restaurant, were the screams from that night.

* * *

"Ne, Sasuke, what are you thinking about?" Naruto asked in a casual but friendly way. "Nothing" was all Sasuke could muster. The boys sat silent for a moment, neither moved nor breathed, they both had questions they wanted to ask, but they struggled with whether or not to acknowledge it was worth destroying what little they meant to one another.

"Your thinking about Sound, aren't you?" Naruto said uncharacteristically soft. Sasuke didn't say anything, he didn't move, he didn't utter a sound.

"Leave it to him to make a good guess the first time around." Thought Sasuke sarcastically.

"I know that you and the others don't think I can handle it, but what happened that night? The night we got you back home. I promise I can take it, I bet it's not even that bad, you guys are just trying to make keep me out, right? …… Right?"

Naruto's forced friendliness did not go unnoticed by Sasuke. He could feel Naruto staring him down, from the corner of his eye he saw the blonde bobbing impatiently, obviously uncomfortable in the situation. Sasuke knew all the answers to Naruto's questions. Sasuke knew better than anyone, and that's what made it worse.

"Why won't you tell me, come on I know you know, and you're the one who said I didn't know the whole conversation between you and Sakura-chan, so tell me!" Naruto squealed.

"NO. You don't need to know, you will never need to know, understood?" The outburst uncommon for the Uchiha raised a few eyebrows within the restaurant, but people paid little heed to the situation and quickly resumed their own conversations.

Naruto on the other hand sat still on his stool, clutching the edges of the seat. He tried to calm himself, but the anger was boiling within him. What was so important to hide? "I mean I know that Sasuke isn't a big talker, but there are just certain things you shouldn't hide form teammates…from friends." Naruto contemplated inwardly. At that moment the cute waitress from before walked towards the two young men with large steaming pots of food in each hand. After she set down Naruto's, he gently craned his neck to get a peak from the corner of his eye at the Uchiha. He saw the waitress smile and put down the bowl, but Sasuke seemed lost in thought. She walked away a little disgruntled, but not too upset. However, what caught Naruto's gaze the most was Sasuke's eyes.

They seemed almost black, devoid of color, and they blended into his pale skin like thunderclouds over a roaring sea. Naruto couldn't tell if what he was seeing was true, but it almost looked as if Sasuke was welling up with tears. His eyes seemed glazed and he was shaking so slightly, that only someone with amazing sight could see the small tremors.

Naruto had apparently been staring too intently and caught a fist to the back of the head. "What are you staring at, dobe?" The contact between Sasuke's hand and Naruto's head made Naruto tilt his bowl of Ramen ever so slightly, causing quite a bit of the broth to pour into his lap. His cries of agony made the waitress behind the counter giggle, and the raven haired teen next to him smile slightly.

"That was hot you ass! Now look at my clothes, they're all dirty, thanks to you." I didn't do anything dobe, it looked like you had an itch, and I was merely trying to be a friend and help you scratch it. But if you're going to act like that when I try to help you, I may stop giving the offers." Sasuke grinned, knowing he had thoroughly enraged his comrade. After the incident, Sasuke noticed his soup tasted much better than it previously had.

* * *

In the middle of the village sat a young looking woman. Her hair was long and golden and it curled gently around her face, accentuating her angelic physic. She sat against a stone bench which was situated in the middle of a rather large courtyard. In summer the courtyard would be full of roses, and the young woman breathed a sigh of dismay "When will this winter end?" she spoke only to herself. There was light breeze in the courtyard, and she pushed and pulled her long slender hands through the air, as though it was water. She took a not so elegant swig from a sake bottle which lay near her, and she was the perfect picture of a hard day's night. Images of a young man flashed through her eyes, it started when he was younger, only entering his teens.

The boy was full of laughter, imagination and genuine happiness. As the pictures slowly floated by her mind, she saw as he aged, matured. He grew not only in physical attributes, but in emotional and intellectual as well. He was becoming well rounded. As the young woman carefully sifted these images, her heart filled with peace and serenity, suddenly she found herself envisioning that night again, the night they brought her young friend home. She had worked as a medic for nearly 40 years though again her physical body declared otherwise and never in all her years, had she seen so much blood.

She would like to be able to say that when she first saw him enter her hospital she knew he would pull through. But she would be lying to herself if she said that. She knew all too well that with the amount of blood loss, the physical strain to his muscles and organs, and the trauma he had apparently withstood, the chances looked grim. It pained her so much to see him lying on the gurney that night. Always he had been so active, alive. Every time she saw him, he had something to say, be it good or bad, but he said it. Always a very affectionate boy, thought very few people ever saw it. When he was alone with just her, he would hug her and tell her she was doing a great job, and everything would be all right.

But tonight things were different. Tonight, his body lay there, covered in crimson hatred, his pulse nervous and unsteady. Eyes closed shut from swelling, bruises on his face, neck, back and chest, making him look more like a Chess board than a person. Frantically she clung to his hand, squeezing to see if a response would be elicited, a smile, a wink, a sarcastic comment. But nothing ever came. Motionless, he was pathetic looking. He was supposed to be stronger than this; he was supposed to be the one who protected everyone else. He was supposed to be the one who would save them all from something they dare not face.

She quickly began to pound on the young man's chest with her fists wrapped in to tight balls. She pounded as though he was a punching bag. As she wailed on the body she sobbed, her tears flowing down her face and landing hap-hazard on the young mans stomach. She stilled, her heart pounding, her throat dry as the Sahara, sight blurring. She gently cupped the boy's body, she scooped him up and brought his head to her chest. Her tears gone, her breathing normal, her hands still.. "Wake up" she bent to whisper in his ears, "Wake up" she said louder, "WAKE UP" she screamed with such passion and force the walls reverberated and the nurses trembled. She paused, waiting, hoping. She had never been a woman of pray but underneath her breath she recited any verse she could remember, "If only he would wake, if only I had not let him go, if only…" she sighed .

Silence…

"Where am I?" as weak as a mouse the boy came to.

"Your warm..." he carefully nudged her.

"Is he here?" he asked simply.

To this the woman replied "Yes, he's back, you brought him back…" she cried softly, but these were tears of thanks, to whatever saw this young man through the night, they were tears of repent, tears of joy, tears of hate. But no matter, he was back, safe in her arms.


	4. Eye of the Storm

Naruto was the first to finish his meal, which did not surprise his companion. The reason for his haste was out of the discomfort he felt in the Uchiha's presence. He gingerly took his wallet from the shorts he was wearing and eyed the pouch carefully, hoping, nay praying he had enough to cover his meal. Much to Naruto's surprise, his wallet had the necessary funds to pay for his meal. Naruto happily slapped down his portion of the bill.

"Teme, sorry about having to leave but my landlord has been on my ass about fixing the door to my apartment," Naruto snickered inwardly at how clever his lie was, and apparently he had fooled the Uchiha. Sasuke looked up at Naruto and knew the boy was hiding something, but regardless of the fact he was relieved to have the ball of energy depart from his presence. "Sounds like fun, be careful, you know how clumsy you can be." Naruto scowled, but expected nothing less from the cold bastard. "Well see you later then Sasuke" Naruto exclaimed as he walked out of the restaurant.

Sasuke lazily stirred what was left of his lukewarm ramen. He sat contemplating the day's events and mentally taking note that he needed to stop walking around town at night, it caused too many problems. He stood, doing as the blond had done and pulled his wallet from his shorts, he placed a few bills on the table, but before he walked away, he looked to the seat Naruto had occupied and noticed the idiot had left his wallet sitting there. "What a fool, what would he do if I wasn't around?" Sasuke sneered and decided he would have to return the property, lest he be blamed for its vanishing.

Naruto unlocked the door to his apartment and thrust it open. It had started to rain when he left the restaurant and he wanted to get inside as quickly as possible. For some reason he was agitated, but he couldn't really place why. He slid in the kitchen to close the window above the sink, and then walked slowly into the den to switch on the TV. As Naruto walked form the kitchen to the den, he stripped himself of the clothing which clung to his body with dampness; he let the articles trail off as he sat down roughly on the shabby couch. He flipped through the channels not really expecting to see anything of interest. He stopped when on the TV he saw a black and white movie which looked to be American, he couldn't understand a word of what the characters were saying, but there were Japanese subtitles, so he decided to watch for a few minutes to see what the movie was about.

At that moment Sasuke stepped out of Ichiraku after settling the bill. Rain was coming down hard and the roads were deserted. He started running towards the idiot's apartment wanting to get in and out as quickly as possible so he could be finished with this task. As he walked up the stairs to the dobe's place, the wind which had grown ever more violent since he left the restaurant nearly pushed him over the railing. With a heavy knock he waited, only growing in agitation as the blond seemed to take his sweet time. Sasuke was surprised when the blond opened the door, again in nothing but some colorful boxers. "What do you want teme?" Naruto flicked at the raven haired boy. "Forget something idiot?" with that statement Sasuke held up Naruto's lost property and smirked at the blonds dumbfounded expression. "Where'd you get that teme?" Sasuke gave the blond no time to hear his response, as he shoved his way into the apartment to get away from the storm which had seemingly appeared from no where.

"You left it at the restaurant when you left dobe; I was just kind enough to bring it back to you, so at least show some appreciation for me." Sasuke almost hissed at Naruto. Naruto placed his hands behind his head as he stared at the Uchiha, with his left leg Naruto closed the door behind him and sighed, "Will this day never end?" Naruto walked closer to Sasuke and cocked his head to get a better perspective of the situation; he grudgingly mumbled thanks to the raven, and then sheepishly twirled his toe on the carpet in the apartment. Knowing that was the most he was going to get, Sasuke simply nodded and threw the wallet on the coffee table in front of his feet.

Thunder cracked and the tiny apartment trembled in the after effects of the loud blast. "Guess I'm not going anywhere for a while huh?" Sasuke mumbled, Naruto looked confused for a moment, and then the thought dawned on him…"WHAT? What do you mean a while, this is a baby storm, a sprinkle, and it's nothing for the great Uchiha, you telling me you afraid to get your hair wet?" Sasuke smirked again, "It's not like this is making me jump for joy either Uzumaki, but as long as the Thunder is louder than you, I'm going stay put right here, got a problem with that?" Naruto looked defeated, but decided he didn't have the energy to throw the bastard out.

The two sat on the couch for a while, not a word passing between them. Naruto eventually un-muted the TV so he could at least have something to fill the void. The same movie Naruto had been watching before Sasuke had arrived was playing, a man and a woman were hugging on screen, the woman was crying and the man was cradling her. Naruto turned the sound up a little bit more trying to hear the nonsense coming form the TV.

Sasuke watched the flickering box with very mild interest, he wasn't surprised that Naruto own a television so much as he was perplexed at why the blond was watching an American romance. Sasuke inwardly snorted "I bet he doesn't have any clue of what's going on, idiot, leave it to him to accidentally happen upon a classic." Sasuke sat for a few moments, remembering back to his childhood. The movie had been one of his mother's favorites, every so often when it rained, Sasuke's mother would play the movie in the Uchiha parlor. She and Sasuke would get underneath a blanket and watch the movie till the end, as the credits rolled Sasuke's mother would gently carry him back to his room and tuck him in for the night. She would kiss him softly and mutter words he couldn't quite understand. Sasuke though almost fondly of this particular memory of his mother, almost.

Unconsciously, sometime while he was reminiscing Sasuke began to recite the lines of the characters, he knew them word for word. When Sasuke finally slipped from his day dreaming he caught the blond staring intently, almost quizzically. "What is it Uzumaki?" the raven hair boy almost sighed. "What do you mean _what_? You were just saying all the words from the movie. Have you seen it before? I didn't know you were into that kind of thing Uchiha, no wonder all the ladies want you!" Naruto squealed with laughter, holding his sides as though if he let go he would bust apart. Sasuke simply remained calm and waited for the ball of laughter on the floor to lose steam, and then he simply leaned over to the blond, and very quietly uttered "Just because I am cultured does not mean this movie is a favorite of mine. You would do well to keep this quiet, I would hate to see what would happen if word of this got around the village. Do I make myself clear

Na-ru-to Kun?" Naruto nodded lightly then hastily retreated to the other end of the room. "Naruto Kun! Who the hell doe she think he is?" Naruto proceeded to rub his neck out of nervousness.

Naruto, in trying to clear the sudden tension decided it was late and he needed to sleep, he had training tomorrow and he needed to be well rested. "But what to do with Uchiha bastard? " Naruto tapped on his temple trying to find a solution. "Well I guess he could sleep in my bed, it's pretty big. WAIT! What the hell am I saying? He'll sleep on the couch like the free loader he is." Naruto walked over to a closet near the kitchen and pulled an extra blanket and pillow from its depths, it wasn't a lot but Sasuke would have to deal with it.

"So teme, you'll be staying on the couch tonight, it's the best I could do since I don't have another room for you to stay in. I got you a blanket and a pillow; they're the only clean ones so they'll have to do." Naruto stated flatly and without room for contention. Sasuke smirked, the blond actually thought that he, Sasuke Uchiha, was going to sleep on a ratty old couch like this, Uzumaki was poorly mistaken. "Listen dobe, I don't know what world you live in, but I will not sleep on this God-forsaken couch, it's stained with who knows what! Huge chunks of the pillows are missing, and the springs have actually started to climb through the fabric, I don't know that you can even call it a couch, it's more like a death trap!" Sasuke was slightly winded after his tirade. He looked at the blond through dark bangs, it seemed Sasuke had gotten his point across; the blond started to put away the blankets and extra pillow. Sasuke would be getting the bed, and who cared where Naruto slept. Sasuke thought "Uchiha one! Uzumaki ZERO!" Sasuke turned suddenly when he felt pressure on his back, someone was pushing him.

"Dobe, what do you thinking your doing? Your pushing me towards the door you idiot, not towards the bed!" Naruto frowned as he laid into the raven "Can't get nothing past you teme, your right, I am pushing you to the door because I want you to get the hell out, trying to take my bed, bastard." Sasuke dug his heels into the floor, and easily removed Naruto's hands from his back; it seemed this was going to be harder than he previously thought… "Listen, I know this isn't a very good situation for either of us, so let's just come to a compromise shall we?" Sasuke hated the word compromise, but being as stubborn as the blond was Sasuke knew it was useless to argue.

"Compromise?" Naruto asked coyly, "what do you have in mind?" Sasuke simply hung his head low, he knew what was about to come next. "I don't know" Sasuke stated rather plainly. He could see the smile slowly encompass Naruto's face. "You mean the great Uchiha is out of ideas? Whatever will we do?" again Naruto was thrown into fits of laughter. After a few minutes of biting his tongue to keep from laughing Naruto calmed himself. "Fine, if you're not going to sleep on the couch, then you can crash in my bed."

Both boys shuddered for a moment at what this last sentence meant. The blond and the raven mulled things over in their heads, but whether they were trying to think of an alternate plan, or dreading the only plan, no one will ever know. Each boy looked at their feet, thinking of something… anything to say, but nothing came. Naruto was the first to break the silence, as usual "Ne Sasuke, it'll be fine, I have a big bed, and we'll both fit, just keep to your side bastard!" Naruto huffed out the last few syllables. "Like I want to be close to you, I'd be worried that your stupid might rub off. Come on I'm tired, let's get this over with and get to sleep." Sasuke muttered more to himself then Naruto.

Naruto led Sasuke down the hall, and gave him the 'Grand Tour' of his happy home. Sasuke walked into Naruto's room and stopped at the doorway, never in all his life had he seen so much damage. Scrolls, pens, clothes, ropes, food and God know what the dark object under his bed was. The room was filthy, and Sasuke visibly shivered at the sight before him. "What do ya think?" Naruto asked playfully elbowing Sasuke in the ribs. Sasuke stopped himself before he said "You live in _this_?" but it was close. To Sasuke's surprise though, the bed was neatly made, folded and padded like it had never been slept in. Naruto moved to the left side of the bed, Sasuke moved to the right and in unison tugged the sheets back onto the bed.

Naruto after moving the covers aside made towards the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready to sleep. He left Sasuke alone in his room while he gargled with water and changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt, not to mention his night cap.

Sasuke watched Naruto walk into the bathroom. Left to himself Sasuke walked around Naruto's room, picking random objects up and placing them back where they belonged. He walked around until he reached a dresser, on the top of which was a single picture frame. It was team 7, the whole gang, taken before Sasuke had left to sound; Sasuke felt a twinge of pain looking at the photo, before things went wrong, back when things were simpler. Sasuke unconsciously rubbed his thumb over the faces in the photo, but stopped when he got to Naruto. Sasuke looked the golden haired boy over in the picture. He had changed so much, but he stayed so much the same. Sasuke was amazed to think how much different everyone, excluding Kakashi was.

Naruto stepped out of the bathroom to witness Sasuke lost in thought. It seemed like the Uchiha was staring at that old picture of team seven. Naruto inwardly wondered what the bastard was thinking. Naruto noticed that Sasuke's breathes were short and shallow, his eyes never wavering. Naruto slowly walked up behind the Uchiha and peered over his left shoulder and shouted "What ya lookin at Sasuke?" Naruto was caught off guard when Sasuke jumped backwards and landed on Naruto's bed, with the blond lying underneath him. Sasuke bolted upright, and stared at the smiling idiot. "What the hell were you doing? Sneaking up on me like that. Idiot." Naruto smirked. "Did I scare you Sasuke-kun? I'm sorry, but it is my house and I forgot you were here."

Sasuke, having been jolted from his gazing, placing the picture back where he found it. He turned around slowly; not wanting to meet the blond's gaze, the sight he saw made him laugh with amusement but back away in awkwardness. Naruto stood before him in what look to be a child's sleeping attire, the patterns on the sweatpants where large swirls which dotted the legs. They were tight at the hips but loose as they neared the bottom, the blond also wore a tight fitting white t-shirt which accentuated his muscle and form. Sasuke could see small rays of gold protruding from the idiot's cap; they curled and dangled against his face only bringing out the blue in the boy's eyes.

"The dobe looks kinda cute like that, like a little kid before bed." Sasuke commented to himself. "What? What did I just say? Did I say the idiot looked _cute_? I must be coming down with something. What the hell was that…" Naruto noticed the conflict going on in Sasuke's head, it was written all over the raven's face. "Hey, I have some extra clothes if you wanna get something to sleep in. Try the second and third drawer." Naruto smiled at himself, thinking he alleviated the raven's problems. Sasuke did as he was told; still reeling from the previous thought he entertained. He pulled out some rather loose black baggy shorts from the third drawer. He stripped down to his boxers and socks, and put on the clothing the blond had provided. Naruto watched the raven, step out of his shorts and rip his t-shirt from his body. He ran his eyes down the lean figure which stood before him. Pale as the moon, Sasuke moved gracefully even in the most mundane of tasks. Naruto was amazed to see the scars from previous battles on Sasuke's chest, back and thighs. It seemed as though Sasuke's body flexed every muscle it had. Naruto caught himself lingering too long at Sasuke's abs and well _lower_ regions; he quickly averted his eyes and walked toward the side of the bed he was going to sleep on. Naruto wondering why he found the raven so attractive, he failed to notice that Sasuke had seen the blond staring.

Sasuke finished dressing and wondered whether or not he really saw the blond staring, or whether it was just in his head. Sasuke chalked it up to being tired and decided not to pursue the subject. Seeing that Naruto had already laid his head down and had his back turned to Sasuke, the raven decided it was time to get some sleep. He laid down a good two feet away from Naruto. Sasuke laid on his back, with his head cocked to the left, half watching the blond, half watching the stars outside. His head was aching trying to figure out why he had said the blond was _cute_. Whatever, Sasuke had better things to do with his time, but he couldn't help but be aware of that sinking feeling in his gut. He just ran the sentence through his head over and over "looks kinda cute, looks kinda cute, looks kinda cute" why had he said that? Oh well it was just a one time thing, nothing to be worried about he supposed.

It was at that moment something stirred him from his thinking, he could hear crying, it was light, soft and almost pathetic. Sasuke froze; he listened intently, trying to locate the sound. Had they left the TV on, no Sasuke was sure Naruto had turned to off, plus there was no light coming from the den. Then what? "Of course, it's Naruto, but what is he crying for?" Sasuke listened for a few moments, trying to discern whether or not the blond was awake or he was dreaming.

"It's okay, just don't looo-ook. I'm fi-ne. Pleeeaasee don't watch. Run stupid! What are you waiting for? Run! I'll be f--ine. We came here for you, get out… GET OUT!!!"

Sasuke's eyes shot open; Naruto was reliving that night. "That's exactly what he said… he said all those things. The pain, my God. Sasuke's hand unconsciously stretched out to stop the blond from shaking. Before he made contact with the blond skin, he stopped himself. The blond was saying something else, something Sasuke couldn't quite understand. He inched closer to the blond and placed his ears near the boy's mouth.

"It's ok Sasuke; I'm doing this for you… for us. It will be fine, just leave, and leave while you still have a chance. Why won't you leave? _I …I… Love…_" Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing, was Naruto actually saying what Sasuke thought he was saying. Naruto had never said that before, could those have been the thoughts he was having as it happened? Is that what he was thinking as _he _did that to him? Oh God, what have I done?" A single tear escaped form the raven's eye. He screamed inwardly, it was a violent and hateful scream. How could he have done this, it was his fault the blond was having these nightmares; it was his fault the blond wasn't happy anymore. All thanks to him. He was the avenger, but not the protector. After everything the blond had done to help him, how did he repay Naruto? By ruining what happiness the boy had.

As Sasuke was tearing his mind to pieces, Naruto turned over quickly facing Sasuke. The blonds' breathing was sharp, but was declining. As soon as Naruto's breath was steady again, he reached his arms out, the blonds left arm extended and he draped it over Sasuke. "The idiot doesn't even realize that I'm here does he?" Sasuke thought to himself. The boys stayed like that for a few minutes, Sasuke was concentrating on the boy in front of him who was still fidgeting, obviously lost in his own dreams. The dreams Sasuke had made for him. Sasuke watched Naruto's chest rise and fall, rise and fall. He listened as Naruto snored lightly. Then a second wave hit, this time more violent. Naruto's entire body was rattling; he was shaking uncontrollably, his body thrashed about in spasms of pain. Sasuke panicked and not knowing what to do took the blond into his arms, with his right hand he stroked the blonds back hoping to calm him, and with his left hand he gently ran his fingers through Naruto's hair, all the while cooing into Naruto's ears to help him relax.

The trauma began to subside within the blond, his breathing was returning to normal and the shaking had stopped. By this point Naruto was almost nuzzling into Sasuke's chest. "Your warm" Naruto said in a whisper "and you smell nice" and with that Naruto completely passed out, his snoring louder but calmer. Sasuke's eyes were wide open, not understanding what had just taken place. For some odd reason, Sasuke felt _better_… He wasn't out singing Joy to the World, but he felt calm, at peace, at _home_. It was a new sensation to Sasuke. Naruto brought his body closer to Sasuke, entangling their legs. Sasuke, afraid of waking the blond, but feeling overwhelmed himself, started to give into sleep; he gently draped his head atop Naruto's. He noticed that the blond smelled of an odd combination of spices, but a good smell, it was strong and overpowering, anything but bland. Sasuke caught himself inhaling softly, but didn't mind. He hugged Naruto a little tighter, letting the blond know he was there. He closed his eyes and hoped that morning would take it's time.


	5. Waking Problems

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Sad isn't it? Anyway, mild violence and language in this chapter be forewarned.**

* * *

"This is bad, very bad" Sasuke whispered no louder than a mouse to himself. Gradually the events of the night before began to flood back to Sasuke; Naruto had been thrashing about in his sleep, muttering about what Sasuke could only think was the night Naruto had finally found him in Sound. "The words he used, he must have been in so much pain, God how could I have put him through this" the raven contemplated. Much to Sasuke's annoyance, it seemed as though he was actually feeling some remorse for the events that led to Naruto's nightmare, and Uchiha's were never supposed to feel remorse.

Bit by bit Sasuke untangled himself from the blond so as not to disturb the young boy. He finally managed to completely disengage himself from Naruto and gently replaced his own body with one of the many pillows on the dobe's bed. Sasuke pulled the covers up over the blond and glanced at the clock.

"5 am, shit…" Sasuke hissed. He hurried to gather up his clothes, he would wash and return the sleeping attire he had borrowed to the blond sometime this weekend. Sasuke then did something very uncharacteristic of such a cold teen, he set Naruto's bedside clock for 7:45 am so the blond would have time to wash and eat before he had to get to the training grounds, as the raven haired male was fussing with the clock he noticed it had quite a bit of dust on it. "Seems as though the idiot doesn't know how to work the thing." After his preparations were complete he scanned Naruto's bedroom one last time, again noticing the certain musk that the blond emitted. Finally, being content that he was finished he moved towards his sleeping teammate, noticing how the boy's legs twitched in his sleep, like a dog, and he lightly brushed the bangs away from Naruto's face; again something very uncharacteristic of an Uchiha. Sasuke visibly winced when he thought about the statement he had just made.

"Well by far one of the more… interesting nights I've spent with you dobe" Sasuke snickered "man, you sure are a pain in the ass. Figures you would dream about me" Sasuke meant to laugh at these last few words, but found himself frowning instead. "I wish you would have never came for me, I wish you hadn't cared, but there's nothing I can do about those memories, I did my best before I brought you back, apparently I didn't do a good enough job erasing the past" Sasuke exhaled slightly, knowing that the blond couldn't hear his words of apology and regret. "I wish you could be happy again, I miss the old you, the one I lo…" Sasuke said the last sentence only in his head, he couldn't pull himself to ever say the words out loud, and with that the raven haired boy turned on his heel and left the apartment in a flash, leaving nothing but quiet in his stead.

As the door to blonds apartment closed, Naruto's eyes opened unhurriedly. A single tear welled at the corner of his left eye. Not only had he woken before Sasuke, but he had keenly listened to the aside made by the cold teen.

"How could I not care about you? Were you really looking for me before you left that night, or was that just a different past you were trying to erase?" Naruto spoke to the empty apartment, only to be answered in resounding silence.

* * *

Training that morning seemed especially awkward to Sakura and Kakashi. It seemed that while the usually quiet Sasuke was even more quiet than usual, his counterpart Naruto had stopped speaking entirely, a first for team 7 to have such a quiet day in the fields. Kakashi being the sleuth he was had decided that something of importance must have taken place between the boys, and as hard headed as they were each respectively, he got the feeling that there were some pent up emotions that had to be dealt with. So he did the only thing he could, he decided today was going to be strictly a one on one match between Uzumaki Naruto and none other than Uchiha Sasuke himself, hopefully the boys would eventually be able to sort out whatever was on each of their minds, and hopefully Kakashi would be able to watch the scene unfold.

The match between the two started out innocently enough, neither boy putting their full efforts into the fight, but it seemed that any time eye contact was made, sudden jolts of energy would spring into the young men and they would become exponentially aggressive in their own right. A hard right thrown by Naruto was easily evaded by Sasuke and the raven's retaliatory strike landed square in the chest of the blond teen, pummeling they boy back several feet, though without missing more than a very brief moment Naruto seemed to fly back onto his heels and go on the attack once again. After a minute and a half or so Naruto landed his first hit within the match, a well placed upper hand straight into the Uchiha's jaw. Sakura winced at the sound of bone grinding against bone.

Sasuke quickly sprung back from the hit he sustained to land quite a heavy kick to the blonds' exposed ribcage. At the sound of one or more of Naruto's ribs splintering Sakura plead for Kakashi to end the match, but the fox of a man only grinned and solemnly stated "Let them be, it's just starting to get good!" With that the blond immediately disappeared, leaving and extremely disgruntled and confused Sasuke standing alone on the training field. "How the hell could he get past my Sharigan?" and with that Sasuke noticed that the ground beneath him quaked ever so softly, he grinned and jumped as high as he could into the air to avoid one of Naruto's better known tactics. Sure enough a blond cannon shot through the floor and Sasuke successfully dodged the boy as he flew beyond Sasuke's head, with a hearty punch the raven hit the blonds head but when the blond seemed to dissipate the revelation was slow to cross Sasuke's mind.

"What the fu.." was all the raven could manage to say aloud before he was grabbed from behind in a vice grip of a hug. "It was a set up, how had I not seen it?" not realizing that he said the words out loud Naruto was quick to answer him with a chuckle "Hey I'm not the only one that paid attention to Lee's fighting ya know…" and with that Naruto spun as fast as he could making sure to hold the Uchiha in his grasp with all the strength he could muster. As the two quickly returned to earth Sasuke knew that the fall was going to hurt, bad… but he also made quick note of Naruto's poor sense of positioning, it seemed that the blond didn't understand the opponent's head was supposed to make contact with the ground first in order to be fully effective, and seeing as how Naruto had placed himself about an inch or so further up than Sasuke, he was going to invariably injure himself in the process as well. Sasuke hated to think he would win on such a small technicality, but a win was a win, and an Uchiha didn't have any other options, there was no word for 'losing' in the Uchiha vocabulary.

At the end of the raven haired boy's thought he and the blond met the earth in a booming "THUD" at this sight even Kakashi had to flinch when he saw the crash, he let the dust settle before he made an attempt to move. As Kakashi swaggered over toward the crater in the center of the field, he instantly noticed the odd position the two had landed in, each boy face to face with his opponent, and with arms barely draped over the others chest and side. The exact same thought did not escape Sasuke as he was the first to open his eyes and survey the scene "Just like this morning, how ironic" he said this only to himself. Next it was Naruto's turn to open his eyes, he studied the scene as well and wondered how he had ended up in the position he had. His eyes roamed the bruised body of his teammate and he couldn't help but imagine what he must have looked like if Sasuke looked that bad. As Naruto ran up Sasuke's figure and visa versa the two boys locked eyes.

Cobalt eyes met Onyx and world seemed to still, both boys started deeply into the other's soul as though searching for some truth to what laid behind those mysterious eyes. In unison each boy thought to himself "Why does this have to be so hard?" Kakashi, beside himself with amusement let the boys stare at each other for a few moment's, giggling to himself, and laughing quietly at the perplexed look which un-gracefully marred Sakura's face, before he decided to cough ever so slightly to gain all three member's of his team's attention.

"Very good Sasuke Kun, Naruto Kun, I think that's gonna be enough for today, I realize that I called you in on your day off, for that I apologize, but to make up for it, I am going to give you Monday and Tuesday off, sound fair?" Kakashi slowly panned the stunned looks of his team member's and decided their silence was good enough for him. Without skipping a beat Sakura asked who Kakashi would declare winner of the match, for a moment the jounin stood motionless, looking as though he was tallying some secret score board in his head, and after a few moments of crushing anticipation he declared "The winner is… neither of you, tie match" and with that he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving three thoroughly upset teens in his absence.

"What a load of shot" exclaimed Naruto he stated with anger as a mask, but within a flash it was gone. Suddenly it seemed as though Naruto remembered the position he was lying in and he quickly jumped up so as to brush the dirt from himself. Sasuke doing the same could only contemplate how he could murder his teacher in his sleep and leave no evidence.

"So what did you think Sakura-Chan? Did I do great or what?" the blond happily chirped the words, which surprised both Sasuke and Sakura greatly, seeing as though only a day or so before Sakura had flatly stated she didn't think much of the sun flower boy. In order to save face Sakura quickly piped up by saying Naruto had done very well. As well as Sasuke, to which only the blond seemed to beam with happiness. The three teens collectively decided to find some shade in which to cool off from the match. Sakura however sat a foot or so away from the boys, more so in hopes that she could sit in the sun and warm herself, it was October after all, but also in attempt to avoid the harsh smells which seemed to be emanating from her teammates.

The first few minutes were spent in an almost quiet reflection. Sakura longingly gazed at Sasuke through wide eyes, trying her best to drink up any feature of him she could glimpse at. Sasuke brooded with his eyes closed, the only thoughts running through his mind were "_looks kinda cute_" and "_Why won't you leave? I …I… Love…" _he questioned himself thoroughly "what could that possibly mean?" all the while Naruto rested languidly against a tree thinking intently about the Uchiha's cryptic words from the morning.

Moments later the Uchiha did something so out of character, so unlike him, that not only Sakura but Naruto had to question the raven again as to whether or not they had heard what the Uchiha had said correctly. "I said… I'm tired, hungry, dirty and I want a bath, so why don't we hit the springs then grab some lunch." After this he hastily added "are you people deaf?" Sakura's mouth hung low on her face, not only could she not believe the words which had some how seemingly escaped her Sasuke's mouth, no that she could possibly understand, what was even more astounding was Naruto's answer… "Sure why not, I'm pretty worn out myself, I think a bath and some good food would do me some good, but your buying teme" and with that both boy's stood and began to walk away. Sakura could only think to herself that this had to be some kind of a nightmare and any minute she would be woken by her mother who would say she had been screaming in her sleep, but no, as the images of the boys became more and more distorted and shrunk further away into the distance, Sakura realized she wasn't dreaming… she was in hell itself.

It was odd, but Sasuke couldn't help the smirk which tugged at his lips at the picture of Sakura he would forever hold in his mind, gaping like a mule, priceless didn't even begin to describe the moment in time for Sasuke. True it wasn't 'normal' for him to show any friendliness, but somewhere before leaving the idiot's apartment that morning, and being thrust into the ground at break neck speeds, the raven haired teen decided he was going to do what it took to prevent any more of the dreams which plagued his teammate. Now he didn't want to be misunderstood and have anyone believe that he cared for the well being of the dobe, no that wasn't it at all, he just couldn't bear the thought that it was his fault that blond was having a difficult time, and an Uchiha would not let a problem they had created fester, oh no, Sasuke would fix the idiot some way or another, so he could go back to being indifferent about Naruto's existence, just like it had been before. "Ah simpler times" Sasuke sighed heartily. "Weirdo" was all Naruto could mutter.

Walking no more than a foot away from Sasuke, a seemingly oblivious Naruto wondered what the sudden display of kindness from the bastard could mean. "Could he be trying to kill me to 'erase' the past like he was talking about? Nah, even he's not that much of a bastard, but still, why do I get the feeling that there's a lot more going on here than I understand, something's definitely wrong here, but hey what can I do, I'm getting a free steam and a free meal, the rest can come later I guess." In the time the two males had been lost in thought, they had walked to their first destination, the springs, here they could unwind and hopefully remedy some of the problems they were having within themselves. Before they walked into the bath house, each boy glanced to their teammate and could only think "I'm going to figure out what happened, no matter what" and with that the boys entered the springs and prepared themselves for what answers laid ahead.

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**Next Chapter: Hot springs and embarrassing scenes? Someone says something they'll regret, and an 'accident' leads to a crestfallen teen.**

**Remember I'm just like any other writer, more reviews means faster updates, I'll fill you in on why I was so late with this chapter next time. **


	6. Thin walls, heavy words

Even though the boys had been in situations similar to the one they found themselves in now, it was nevertheless awkward. The young men stood in the changing room back to back so as to avoid any unnecessary eye contact. Each found themselves shivering slightly, yet it was a very temprid climate within the bath house, though neither thought much about the chills they had. Slowly single articles of clothing were removed from tan and pale skin respectively. Sasuke seemed to be having some trouble stripping himself of his rather tight shirt while conversely Naruto seemed to be having a hard time with the intricate design of his jean zipper. When all was said and done and each boy was decidedly naked (underneath a towel of course) they turned to meet their companions face. Naruto grinned sheepishly, new to the odd sensation bubbling from within his stomach, Sasuke on the other hand could do nothing more then try his very best to hide the faintest tint of a blush on his silky skin.

"Well then are we ready to go? My back is aching and I need something to make it feel better" Naruto breathed heavily, elongating his words as if to impart upon Sasuke, just how sore his muscles really were. "Whatever, let's get going before it get's cold." Slowly the boys walked through a very elaborate lobby, painted in chocolate brown with red rugs placed every few feet. Sasuke very calmly asked for directions to the men's bath, the receptionist of sorts working behind a rather large marble desk gave the boys their directions and added "We get that a lot, after the renovation and all" to this the boys only nodded and walked on.

Hiding behind a rather large vase within the bath house lobby, the receptionist could see a tuft of pink hair, suspiciously jutting out into the lobby. A young woman stepped into view and very sheepishly walked towards the woman's bath dressed in formal bathing attire, the receptionist thought nothing odd and went on busying herself with paperwork.

The young pink haired woman gave a small thanks to any deity listening, when she walked into the woman's portion of the bath, she found it deserted, almost as though her plan was more effective than she could have hoped. She found the adjacent wall to the men's quarters and sat with her back against it, generally during the peak hours of business no sounds could be heard through the rather thick walls due to the amount of sounds coming from each side, but seeing as it was rather late in the evening, if a pin were dropped in the other room, this woman could point you to where it landed. The young girl slowly dipped her toes into the water as she settled herself, testing the heat. When she found it to her liking she rested her legs knee deep and looked forward to an 'inspiring' conversation that she was about to be witness to, whether anyone knew it or not.

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Sasuke was the first to step through the door into the bath, it had been ages since he was able to find a moment to relax, unfortunately he had to share the time with the obnoxious idiot "Che, never can get a break huh?" he scowled low enough his companion wouldn't hear. As he was lowering himself into the warm water of the pool in front of him he had a rather quick thought "I wonder why the dobe's being so quiet" as he completed this thought the raven heard a high pitched scream and quickly turned around to locate the voice. The sight he was met with left him confused and rather upset. As the raven turned he saw a flash run past him, upon further inspection he realized it was none other then his blond teammate. Apparently Naruto had cast off his towel and decided to _jump right in_ as they would say… "Who are they?" Sasuke breathed out. What bothered the raven most was not that his 'friend' was running around naked screaming like a wild animal, no, that he understood, what really bothered him was when the blond finally entered the water with a resounding "SPLASH" and had somehow managed to completely soak the older of the two.

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Sasuke turned around very carefully and met the eyes of said blond idiot. "Boy, Sasuke sure looks real mad, I wonder what new stick is up his ass" Naruto slowly blinked and took in the appearance of the only other person in the bath. Sasuke stood at the edge of the bath, seeping water from head to toe. "Looks kinda like a wet cat" Naruto chuckled to himself "A real mean pus.." before Naruto could let spill those disastrous words from his mouth the raven had entered the pool and placed his left hand firmly on the blonds lips. "What was that about cats Na – ru – to?" Sasuke made sure to emphasize the idiots name for effect. "Nothing, umm nothing. I was just joking?" Naruto tried to free himself from the Uchiha's grasp but too little avail. When Sasuke decided he had his fill of torturing the blond he waded to the other end of the spring, to be as far from the idiot as he could, on the way there he picked up the towel which had been covering his more 'secret' areas from the far end of the spring and sat himself against a large boulder, gently laying the towel over his lap.

The boys sat there for a few moments, nothing really needing to be discussed. A comfortable sense in the air made neither feel awkward, yet both knew they had questions to ask. Naruto and Sasuke sat in the water, Sasuke gently resting against the large rock behind him with his eyelids closed, while Naruto slowly pulled his hands through the water, wafting them as though the water was as light as air. Meanwhile a very impatient stranger sat on the opposite side of the men's pool, straining her ears to pick up the slightest noise, after the outburst from a few minutes before, the room had been almost deathly silent. She coughed ever so lightly, but feared she may have blown her cover, she waited for a few seconds without moving, it seemed as though she was still safe, in reality the blond had been too lost in thought to notice, and Sasuke had merely turned his head to the side for a moment, then resumed his relaxed position.

"Ne Sasuke, there was something I've been meaning to ask you." Naruto very shyly stated, Sasuke immediately picked up on the small fact and could only imagine that the blond wanted to talk about the rescue mission. "What is it?" Sasuke said in his usual indifferent voice. "I know you don't really want to talk about it, but the night we finally got to you, you know at the mansion, who was there that night?" The question had completely thrown Sasuke off guard, he had imagined that the blond would jump head long into questioning related to specifics of the nights events. Sasuke mulled it over in his mind for a few moments, trying to contemplate a rational plan of action. "Why is he asking such a specific question about that night, why does it matter who was there? Where is he trying to go with this?" Naruto could see the tense emotions running through his teammates head, he wanted to just say never mind and forget the whole thing, but he had to know, he had to know what happened that night. And seeing as Naruto had gotten more clever over the years of Sasuke's absence, he knew he just couldn't chime in with very blunt questions, this was an Uchiha he was dealing with after all "Yeah big whoop, they're not all that great anyway" Naruto mused inwardly. Naruto had already set up his game plan to try and trap Sasuke in a lie, or something similar so he would eventually just spill it.

"Well there in the main hall were Orochimaru, you and me, Kakashi and Sakura had been hurt inside the forest and they were your only backup. There were a few lackeys roaming around the palace, but we never saw any of them, they were probably too frightened of the snake to try and disturb him at the moment" Sasuke cringed at that thought, he tried to hide the contortion of his face quickly but it had been too late, Naruto had seen. But as much as Sasuke knew the blond, he figured the idiot wouldn't get what was happening, therefore he wouldn't ask.

"Oh" was all the blond said, he had just gained a new nugget of information and needed time to process it "I'll just have to think about it later, I have out get more out of the bastard" Naruto thought coolly. A few more moments passed between the two, Naruto shifted back and forth trying to find a new position to sit in, Sasuke merely scowled at the man's fidgeting. "Ne, Sasuke… Once we got out of the mansion, how did we get back to Konoha?" Sasuke stilled for a moment, eyes still closed, now something was definitely wrong. "Why would he ask a stupid question like that, it has almost nothing to do with what happened in the dining hall, but that's good, if he's not asking about what happened in the dining hall it must mean that he can only remember bit's and pieces of the forest and then waking up in the hospital." After running these thoughts through his head, Sasuke lazily answered "Well you had been injured in the main hall of the mansion, and I had managed to get you out into the forest, you fell unconscious due to blood loss, so I had to carry you back to the village." Satisfied Sasuke let his muscles unclench again, not realizing they had tensed in the first place.

Again Naruto took in this new information and slowly started to think about his next move. The boys seemed to be playing a game of chess which neither had anticipated. Answers were coming slowly to Naruto but he knew if he just kept asking the right questions, he could eventually unlock the memories of that night. "Ne Sasuke… who was traveling with us when you were taking me back to the village, did we get Sakura-san and Kakashi-sensei, and were they with us too?" Sasuke was reeling, what the hell was the blond getting at, however strange the idiot's questions were, Sasuke could see no harm in them so he answered as politely as an Uchiha could, "Sakura and Kakashi were retrieved by medics before you and I even left the mansion, they had already arrived at the hospital before we had escaped."

Naruto's body physically shook at the raven's words. "What does this mean then? Was he the one crying?" Sasuke still had his eyes closed when he finished answering the blond's question, but the water felt odd, as though it was shaking. Lazily opening his eyes, the coal orbs in his head slowly drifted to the sight of the shaking blond. "What the hell?" was all Sasuke could think. "What's wrong?" he asked a bit more concern evident in his voice than he would have hoped for. Naruto quickly stilled his body, not wanting to give away the revelation he had just come too "Nothing, just a little cold you know, I'm gonna… I'm gonna go ask for them to turn up the heat a little" and with that the blond was out of the water with a flash. Sasuke turned to see the blond running towards the reception desk, getting a little more than he asked for in the view, Naruto had been in such a hurry to leave the spring that he hadn't covered properly before exiting and gave the raven quiet a show of his tan behind. The Uchiha unconsciously blushed at the sight and turned around in embarrassment "Stupid idiot never knows when… can't he just ever... it was kind nic…? Forget it" and with those few words Sasuke submerged himself beneath the water.

Realizing that the blond had left the room for the moment, the stranger with pink hair tried to think about what she had just learned. "Nothing really" she said aloud "they really didn't talk about anything, Naruto asked some rather odd questions, but Sasuke responded without much hesitation, so apparently he wasn't disturbed by anything Naruto had said" and with another quick thought, the pink haired stranger decided that she was going to utilize this opportunity and confront Sasuke about what was happening while he was off speaking to the receptionist.

Slowly the stranger lifted herself from the water and quietly made her way through the woman's change room and the hallways which led to the other springs. She peeked her head past a corner to get a view of the lobby area and sure enough the blond was sitting in one of the chairs, dripping slightly on the carpet with his head in his hands, mumbling something or other to himself. It seemed as though the receptionist was on her break and he needed to wait for her. "Perfect" the stranger said in a low tone, "he'll be busy for a while" with that she crept around the corner she had hid herself behind and cautiously walked to the men's springs which just moments before she had been eavesdropping on. She stalked through the men's changing room, making sure there were no men present. She saw the cubbies which had been filled with the two young men's clothing and inwardly smirked as she saw a pair of dark black silk boxers which she could only imagine belonged to the raven haired male. "I have to remember to grab those on my way out…"

She walked casually into the men's bath with the confidence of knowing only Sasuke would be present. She snuck quietly behind him and then stuck her feet into the water, again only up to her knees. For a moment Sasuke couldn't understand why the blond was so close to him, or why he kept rubbing his very soft and smooth legs against the raven. "Wait that can't be.." Sasuke opened his eyes to see grinning pink haired teammate sitting next to him in the water. "What are you doing here" Sasuke said coldly, "I don't remember you being invited." Sakura quickly retorted "I was just in the neighborhood and decided I would come and visit my favorite teammates!" her quirk and spunk made Sasuke twitch, however no one seemed to notice anymore because the raven did it so often. "Spying isn't your best trait Sakura, you never were very good." Sasuke could only imagine what the pink haired bother would have to say to that "You mean you knew I was there? I mean what are you talking about Sasuke-kun?" there was only silence. "Whatever" was all Sasuke could reply. "What are you doing here?" he asked sharply turning his gaze upon the young girl.

At that very moment, Naruto finished his conversation with the receptionist and headed back towards the baths. "It had to be him, there was no one else there he said. He said I was unconscious, and even though I was awake I know it wasn't me. So then the only person it could possibly be was…" Naruto stopped as he heard voices coming from the bath. And as Naruto had been inclined to do, he always somehow managed to walk in to the wrong part of a conversation.

"I just thought that maybe you were going to finally tell him. I know it's hard but you know it's the right thing to do. For God's sake Sasuke, me and Kakashi could hear the screams as we were taken back to Konoha, we could hear _him_ laughing. I can't sleep anymore; at night all I can dream of is Naruto and that _monster_, the awful things he did to him, and to you no less. And every time I see Naruto smile; I wonder whether or not he will ever know. And I understand you don't want to tell him because you're just as worried as everyone else that his smile is going to disappear, but what I'm saying is that you've seen the change he's gone through, he's a lot smarter than he used to be and you know it. He'll find out sooner or later, and what is he going to think of you once he finds out you're the one who tried the hardest to keep it from him, to hide it from him." Sakura tried to catch her breath.

Sasuke had enough, he barked softly but with ferocity "Listen, I know what is going to happen if he ever finds out, and my reasons for keeping it to myself are my own. I thought I had made myself very clear to you that he must never know. Let him be mad at me, let him hate me, let him _kill _me" Sasuke emphasized the word kill for some reason unknown to Sakura. "But give him what time he has without nightmares, without fears. I would rather take that pain from him, not for any other reason then it's my fault it's there to begin with, I caused it, and I should have to live with it. Not him." Sasuke folded his arms over his chest, clearly signaling to Sakura that he was done speaking, but she persisted, not being satisfied with his answer.

"Stop being such a martyr Sasuke, you know him as well as I do, he could never hate you for what happened, and I know he's already seen his medical report from that night, he has to know there are very few ways he could have gotten sustained some of those injuries, he can put two and two together. Look, I promised I wouldn't tell him and I won't, but you should. Do you even remember what you said the night you left? Huh? Do you!" Sakura nearly screamed these last few words at Sasuke, he could do nothing but hang his head, a sight uncommon for his family. "After you laid me on the park bench, you thought I was out, but you were wrong. I saw you looking towards the city, searching; I saw the direction your eyes took. It was the east part of the village wasn't it, the poor district." Sasuke growled he knew what she was getting at and he didn't like where it was going.

"Who lives in that section of the village Sasuke-kun? Hm? Who were you looking for?" Sasuke stood in the bath, the cloth previously covering his midsection floating along the top of the water. His face was pulled back in an evil glare "Shut up!" was all he could manage. "He's the only one we know who lives there, isn't he?" a few seconds of silence "ISN'T HE?" at these words Sakura began to sob profusely. "I always knew he was the one, but I still held hope. Do you remember what you said before you left, when you were looking for him? To see if maybe he was home? I know you had gone to search for him before you left, hoping beyond hope that he could make you stay. But you never found him, and as you left the village you hoped you'd see the lights on in his house before you left. Looking for some kind of a signal. But he wasn't there was he?" At this point Sasuke was stalking towards the exit of the pool, he knew if he stayed to listen to more of the girl either he would agree with her and lose his resolve, or he would kill her, and neither was a very good choice. "You said… 'Hopefully we'll meet again, under different circumstances. Hopefully you will see a different me, and I can finally show you how I feel. But for now I have to go and do this, I have to dive into my past before I can erase it. I just hope you're here when I come home. Until then'… "that's what you said, I remember it all so well, and what I remember most was the fact that you were saying it to him and not me." Sakura stood slowly and lifted herself from the pool, trying to catch the eye of her teammate. "So what, you have nothing to say for yourself then? You coward!"

Sasuke leaned against the door frames which lead to the change rooms; he took one last look at Sakura. "Yeah I know what I said and your right I wasn't saying it to you, I was trying to let go of him. But let me tell you something, what my feelings are for him, regardless of whether they are positive or negative, do not concern you in the least and you would do well to mind your own life. Secondly whether or not you think Naruto needs to know what happened that night is irrelevant. I make that decision, not you, so stop meddling in what you don't understand." And with that Sasuke turned and left.

What both Sasuke and Sakura had failed to notice was that before Sasuke had finally finished speaking, there had been someone else in the men's change room who was hurriedly trying to get all the clothes from his cubby back onto his body. Not only had Naruto heard almost the entire conversation, he now had to contend with the news that Sasuke loved someone in the village, and not only was it not Sakura, but it was another male. Naruto had failed to realize that he was the only one he knew who lived in the poor district of the village, not to mention he was the only person to live there that any of his friends knew. As Sasuke had finished talking Naruto was already almost to the door of the compound.

Sasuke walked into the men's changing room trying to quickly rid himself of the presence of Sakura. What he found when he got there was a wet spot next to where Naruto's clothes had been, and a very empty cubby which the blonds things had resided. "Fuck" he yelled loudly "He fucking heard everything" Sasuke then made short work of drying himself off and getting his clothes back on. He had to go search for the boy and explain. Sasuke wondered to himself how he always managed to get into these kinds of situations, always chasing after the blond to apologize. Uchiha's were never supposed to chase anyone, nor were they supposed to apologize, yet since he returned from Sound, all he saw himself doing was running around saying sorry to no one other than Naruto. "Che, he doesn't even know how good he has it"

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As Sakura heard Sasuke run out of the changing room, invariably running after the blond, she smiled with satisfaction in the sense that her plan had worked perfectly. She knew she could pull it off, what with Sasuke's temper and Naruto's curiosity. She didn't break her promise to Sasuke, but she did manage to help Naruto out with his past. However, at the same time Sakura noticed she wore a bitter sweet smile. While helping Naruto she had been given a definitive answer to her questions of where Sasuke's love laid, she had always known he probably never cared for her in that sense, and always wondered whether it was the blond or someone else's affections that Sasuke sought after, now she had her answer. But it still hurt.

**A/N Well that was a long chapter for me, I'm surprised, but my hands are killing me! Anyway next chapter confrontation, confession and compensation. Interesting ne? Well as always for most authors, more reviews mean quicker updates, and I really like the next chapter, there's a kiss, and that's all I'm going to say. Anyway until then, Ja ne!**


	7. Rain hides Tears

Rain Hides Tears

"Why. Why does this always happen to me?" Naruto sobbed inwardly as he ran to his apartment. The blond had been in such a hurry to leave he didn't realize he had put his pants on inside out and his t-shirt on backwards, though at the moment he couldn't care less. The world which had so fragilely been held together was now starting to unravel. For one thing Naruto knew his best friends were keeping secrets from him, and he just couldn't understand why they would do that, hadn't he always been honest with them? Then there was the information he had received from Sasuke, the fact that he knew something that he would never tell the blond, not to mention that he had cried for Naruto that night, and rescued him from the snake. But what hurt most of all was that Sasuke was in love with someone in the village, and he only told Sakura, and not Naruto.

"I thought he hated Sakura" the blond choked out, "So then why would he tell her and not me?" Naruto ran through the streets as fast as his legs would allow. It seemed as though a new storm had rolled in, fiercer then the one from day's past. Rain was now flowing in torrents, yet the rain couldn't match the tears that were now flowing from the blonds red eyes. He ran and ran, every so often pushing blond locks of hair away from his eyes. The road was becoming blurry, and the mud was really starting to hinder his progress. Slowly the blond's apartment came into view. The only place he could ever feel safe, the only place he had ever known. "What do they want from me?" was all the boy could mutter.

He climbed the stairs and harshly withdrew the keys from his inside out pocket, fighting with the material for a moment. He unlocked the door and burst into his small one bedroom flat, then slammed the wooden blockade shut, sliding the bolt lock in place. He stopped once inside, dripping mud and water on the small rug in front of the door. He laid his head against the solid door and before he could realize what he was doing, he was creating sizable dents in the wood that stood before him. A few minutes passed with Naruto wailing on the door, his knuckles cut to the bone and leaking blood like a faucet. He hated that no one trusted him, he hated that no one cared for him, but what he hated most of all was that no one loved him. He saw love every day, on the streets; mother's holding their children's hands to cross the markets, couples eating together and laughing happily, even some of his friends were in relationships, not too mention the love he had seen Sakura shower Sasuke with. "Is it too much to ask for, to be wanted? Needed? Loved?"

Naruto Slid down the door leaning against his back once seated. He pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his head in his hands. It seemed as though after all the years of crying, he would have run out of tears, but alas, the salty drops of remorse just kept coming, never ceasing, never relenting. His blond hair was now matted to his face; the glow he usually radiated seemed dim. The wet clothes on his body clung to him, keeping him cold, he shivered slightly. The way he sat on the floor made him look more like a beaten dog, then a seventeen year old man. His battle had raged for years, but this is the first time he ever thought he was losing. The blond sat there for what seemed like hours, thinking maddening thoughts about not only the loneliness he felt, but what he could do about it. Running away had never been an option, for one Uzumaki Naruto never ran away, from anything. And besides, where did he have to go? That left the small blond with few options, and the choices were becoming decidedly darker as he went along the path.

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Sasuke ran frantically, trying to pick up and trace where the blond had gone. With the rain pouring from the sky not only could he not pick up the boy's scent, but any hopes of finding him by his tracks proved useless. "I'll just have to check his hang out's and see if anyone has seen him" Sasuke said this to himself, but almost hoped someone else had heard him. He ran from building to building, first to Ichiraku then to the local market. He checked the training grounds but all to no avail. On the way he ran into Kakashi who still wore some of the bandages from the rescue mission.

"Oi, little wet for a cat like you to be running around ne?" Kakashi smirked at the young male. "Yeah whatever. You seen the idiot? I can't seem to find him." Sasuke asked coldly, not really wanting to waste his time with his teacher. Kakashi noticed the somewhat desperate look in the Uchiha's eyes and chuckled softly to himself. "Wonder if they had a fight" he thought inwardly. For a moment Kakashi just stood in front of the raven haired boy, taking stock of the situation. It seemed Sasuke had been running around the town for an hour or so judging on the amount of water and mud which had collected on him. The Uchiha's eyes seemed dull, more so than usual, and he was breathing rather hard, it seemed as though he had really screwed something up with the blond for him to be this disheveled. Sasuke noticing his teacher's knowing eye quietly growled his impatience "Look, do you know where he is or not, I need to speak with him." Was all the Uchiha could muster.

Kakashi noticed the desperation in the Uchiha's voice, even if Sasuke didn't sense it himself. Inwardly Kakashi thought "this must have been about the rescue mission. I wonder what Naruto overheard…" the silver haired man being his usual clever self. "I saw him about 45 minutes ago, looked as though he was running to his apartment, dawn on you to check there maybe?" Kakashi smirked at the dumb founded look which graced the Uchiha's face for no longer than a second. "Of course that's where he would be." And with that Sasuke raced off towards the blonds house, hoping for some reason he was there, Sasuke didn't know what he was going to say, or even why he felt he had to say something, it was after all the idiot's fault for listening to a conversation which he shouldn't have been. Ugh, what the hell am I getting myself into?" Sasuke raced and finally reached the blonds door.

He stood outside the idiots apartment, with his ear near the door. He could hear the faint sounds of the tv as well as running water. He waited for a few more moments, footsteps could be heard in the kitchen, sounded as though the blond was opening drawers and rummaging through silverware. Then Sasuke heard faint crying accompanied by a door creaking closed. Once he felt safe to move in Sasuke made short work of picking the locks to the idiot's apartment, he opened the door slowly and walked tip toe into the den. Sure enough the tv was on, and for some reason it was the same movie that had been playing the night Sasuke had stayed here. What Sasuke had failed to notice was the box the movie had come in, Naruto had gone out and purchased the movie earlier that day, even Naruto didn't understand why he wanted to watch the American romance so badly, but he was just in the mood for it. Sasuke turned his attention quickly to the kitchen, the sight which met his eyes frightened him more than he would have ever thought possible.

On and near the open drawer Sasuke had previously heard the blond rifling through, Sasuke saw many knives, a few had managed to find their way to the floor, but the majority of the pile was lying on the kitchen counter, now Sasuke knew the blond was messy and probably never put his silverware away, but that's not what scared him. It seemed as though most, if not all of the blades were covered in a red, gooey substance, it was nearly black, it dripped from one of the knives which was leaned over the counter and the fluid fell softly onto the floor. Sasuke was having flashbacks from his childhood at this point. "What the fuck could that be? Who could have done this? Could he have done it to himself." While lost in thought the Uchiha was quickly brought back to reality when he felt something flow gently across his toes. Running water seemed to be coming form the bathroom, it too was tainted with light specks of red. Sasuke was on the verge of a breakdown "What did I do, what if he, he kil…" but before he could complete the sentence, Sasuke heard a small sniffle. He knew it had to be the blond and he ran to the door of the bathroom.

Standing in front of the bathroom door with his hand on the knob, Sasuke was frozen, he didn't know if he could handle the sight which he was about to be greeted with. As Sasuke held himself steady he heard a small gurgle, then another, then another, then nothing. Sasuke was visibly shaking at this point, his body was being wracked with fear, he just couldn't open the door, but he had to! With a brief moment of hesitation he finally burst through the door, what he feared had come about, and it was all his fault…

The blond was lying submerged in the water, the red tainted liquid which filled the bath and encompassed Naruto spilled gently over the rim and cascaded into the small bathroom, in the sink lay the knife, covered in red. Sasuke's eyes drifted back over to the body of his friend, and in a completely irrational moment for the raven haired teen, he cried. A few tears fell steadily form his cheeks, he didn't know whether he could ever live knowing he had done this, he had been the one to cause this end for his teammate…his friend… his lo... Sasuke stared for a few moments at his friend, he looked pensively at the blonds hair, it looked golden in the water, but the red had seemed to taint it to a strawberry color, it swayed to and fro gently. Then his eyes wandered down to the blonds face, "He looks tired" thought Sasuke. Three thin marks visible on each of the blonds cheeks, both of Naruto's eyes were closed, his mouth barely open. Sasuke panned down to his friends chest, looking for any sign of movement, knowing he would see none, he ran his eyes over the tan skin, noticing his friends smooth chest and defined abdominal muscles. He began to look down even further at his friends 'equipment' when suddenly the blond burst out of the water, gasping for air. Sasuke meanwhile nearly had a heart attack.

Naruto slowly pushed his blond bangs to the back of his head to drain any water from them, then he ran his calloused hands down from his forehead to his chin to remove any water there, he shook his body back and forth like a dog would do, then slowly he opened his eyes, what he was met with made him scream. "Sasuke! What the fuck are you doing here, trying to watch me bath you pervert!" Naruto immediately jumped out of the bath and covered himself with a large towel which hung on a rack near the sink. Sasuke could only stand there, struck silent at the scene that had just unfolded. He didn't understand what was happening, all he could do was ask "didn't you try to…kill…yourself?" was all the raven could manage to say. Naruto cocked his head to the side for a few moments and tried to figure out whether or not the Uchiha was serious. "Of course not you idiot, obviously I was taking a bath, anyone could have seen that" Naruto was breathing heavily after his explanation.

"But the kitchen, the blood… then the water, and you weren't moving…" Sasuke trailed off in thought, almost unable to process what was going on, when he heard an odd sound. It was laughing. Sasuke raised his head and saw the blond doubled over in laughter, he was almost cackling. Sasuke was highly confused and was becoming very annoyed. "What's so funny idiot, I thought you were dead and this is how your acting?" Sasuke was pissed and had no intention of hiding his displeasure. Naruto finally managed to calm himself and try to explain the situation. "Look here's what happened, when I got home I was a little upset about what you…" Naruto paused for a moment trying to think a way out of this trap. "Anyway well I got home and I was pissed so I decided to make myself something to eat, since we were supposed to get dinner, and never did. I walked into my kitchen and pulled a jar of jelly from my cabinet, but I couldn't get the damned thing open, finally I got a knife out of the drawer and popped the lid off, but when I did the jelly like exploded and got all over me, so I put the jelly away and decided I would take a bath and clean up. Does that help?"

"But why were you lying in the bath not moving with the water still running then?" Sasuke asked, sounding a little more impatient than usual. "Oh, that, well I'm trying to build up my swimming endurance, so I try to see how long I can keep my head under water without breathing, it's a fun game, you should try it. And with the faucet thing, I must have just not remembered to turn it off." At these final words Naruto just blushed slightly "I really am an idiot aren't I?" he thought to himself. Sasuke could do nothing more then stare at the blond in disbelief. "Only he could set this scene up so perfectly on accident." At that thought Sasuke turned on his heel and headed for the door, in no mood to explain anything to the blond. "That idiot, scaring me like that, he doesn't deserve to know what I was going to come here and tell him. Whatever, I've wasted enough time here." Naruto seemed surprised to see the raven walking away, he quickly put on some slippers which were partially wet from lying near the tub and ran after Sasuke.

"Ne, Sasuke, where are you going? And by the way, what the hell were you doing here in the first place?" Naruto asked with a very innocent smirk on his face (if you can call a smirk innocent) Sasuke stood still for a moment, thinking about answering the dobe honestly and just saving himself a lot of trouble. But he thought better of that plan and simply said "Never mind, it was nothing important" and with that Sasuke opened the door to another surprising sight, Hail was now falling in the village the size of golf balls. Not only did the rain seem to be coming down in sheets but there was lightning which lit up the sky, but there was no thunder behind it, all one could hear was the rain. From behind the raven Naruto chuckled "Looks like another sleepover huh?" Sasuke snarled knowing that the blond was right, and trying to think of a way to get out of the situation. Seeing no escape plan in sight Sasuke coolly stated "seems like it." Sasuke then quickly pulled the door closed and stood in the doorway, waiting for the blond to invite him in. Naruto being as clueless as he was, only stared at the raven in confusion. "Well aren't you going to invite me in?" Sasuke asked impatiently. "Oh yeah huh, come in, make yourself at home." Naruto frowned inwardly, he didn't understand why he was being so nice to Sasuke after everything he had heard. "Whatever, I can't let him know I was listening, he'll just get all pissy anyway, better to play it cool." At that thought Naruto sat on his couch and motioned for Sasuke to sit too.

Sasuke complied with the blonds request and made a seat for himself at a good distance from the blond. They both stared off in the distance for a moment, stuck in an awkward silence in which neither knew what to say. Sasuke looked up and finally noticed the box sitting on top of the dobe's tv, "Looks like he went and bought it, though can't imagine why, never took him for a guy that could watch a movie that didn't have explosions in it" Sasuke giggled to himself. Naruto noticed Sasuke looking at the box and moved very quickly to remove the movie from the DVD player which sat on the floor. This task was made harder for Naruto given the fact that he was still wearing his bath towel and had to constantly readjust it so it wouldn't fall to the floor. Every so often it would slip a little and give Sasuke a view of his tan bottom. For some reason though Sasuke never said anything, nothing condescending at least, Naruto figured he would have turned around and Sasuke vomiting or cringing or passed out on the couch, but surprisingly enough when Naruto turned after retrieving the movie Sasuke was just sitting on the couch, not really looking in Naruto's direction. At first the blond was relieved by this thought, but also for some reason kind of sad, though he quickly brushed it off, trying not to put so much effort into it. However Sasuke had seen the slip up's made by the blond and had unconsciously blushed, "Thank God he didn't catch me, who knows what the idiot would have said." was all Sasuke could think of.

Naruto set the DVD on a shelf in his living room and resumed his seat on the couch. Again the boys were enveloped by a thick silence which was increasingly awkward. Sasuke decided that he just had to be a man and talk to the blond, he knew why the blond had run home, he knew that Naruto had heard everything that he and Sakura had been talking about, and as much as he hated to admit it, the pink haired girl was right, Naruto would figure things out sooner or later, so he might as well blame Sasuke and then be able to move on with his life. If Sasuke could take most of the blame then everything would be fine. "Look Naruto, about what happened at the baths" Sasuke was stopped short before he could even begin his explanation. Naruto spoke so low that Sasuke had to strain his ears to pick up what the other boy was saying. "Look, I know why you guys are hiding everything for me; you don't have to explain everything. I know that I'm loud and obnoxious and not too smart, I can understand why you wouldn't trust me, or want to be my friend. We're teammates and that's all, I get that now, we can never have any other kind of relationship, and… and that's ok you don't have to explain anything. I heard what you and Sakura were talking about, your right, I guess I don't deserve to know, it really was my fault for getting hurt I guess. I can't really remember what I did to screw up so bad, but I guess I'm glad that you were there to complete the mission, but I promise that I'll get better so that you won't have to take care of me" by this point in time Naruto had tears welling in his eyes and Sasuke couldn't find the words to comfort the blond. "But hey you know I'm getting a lot better, so sooner or later I'm gonna be the one saving your ass, so you had better get prepared teme" Naruto tried to cover his sadness with his last statement. He was pulling on a veil, but anyone with eyes could see through his lies.

Naruto quickly stood and muttered something about getting dressed. Sasuke could do nothing but sit on the blond's tattered couch, mouth slightly open. He didn't know what to say? "How could he think that? But really… what else could he think, given the situation?" Sasuke mused this. He wished he knew what to say to the blond. He could hear the blond thrashing about his room, undoubtedly crying. For what seemed like the first time in Sasuke's life, he actually felt horrible about what he was doing to the blond.

Naruto finished getting dressed. He sat quietly on the end of his bed, wishing to be anywhere but where he was. He didn't know what to think, "why is he here, did he come just to rub it in my face? He's always been the guy everyone thinks is so awesome and cool, always knows what to say and what to do, so then why is he doing this to me?" Naruto cradled his head in his hands, tears leaking between his fingers. He tried to sob quietly but it was his house damnit. "No! that bastard doesn't get to come here and tell me whatever he wants! I'll show him…" Naruto almost yelled these words, with white knuckled fists he stood from his bed and walked into his den where the raven still sat quietly.

"What the hell are you doing here anyway? What did you just come by to make yourself feel better. Your such a smug bastard you know that, so what if I can't remember everything that happened, why do you get to decide what I can and can't know. I'm tired of you always keepin' secrets ya know? I always tell you what's going on. Why don't you get the hell ou…" Naruto was immediately silenced by a forceful but smooth hand. His blue eyes widened when he saw that hand that obstructed his rant. Sasuke merely stood in front of the blond with his head hung low. They stood frozen like that for what seemed hours before Sasuke released his grip on the boy. "Look, I didn't come here to be mean, and I definitely didn't come here to get scolded by an idiot like you. If you'd give me a chance then I could explain some things?" Naruto was lost in thought, the Raven had never talked to him like this, at least not sincerely. He decided he would hear Sasuke out, he owed the boy that much didn't he?

"Fine, whatever" was all the blond could mumble. The two boys walked over and took up their previous positions on Naruto's couch, though Sasuke seemed to sit a lot closer this second time around. Sasuke started to speak again but he quit before he managed to say anything, this happened a few more times with Sasuke awkwardly trying to complete a sentence, but stopping every time. Finally after Naruto huffed in frustration Sasuke found the words.

"Look, I'm not here to be rude or to make you feel inferior. I know the whole situation about sound is confusing for you and for that I'm sorry, maybe it's just better that you don't know what happened…" Sasuke inwardly groaned knowing he was the cause for Naruto's lost memories. "Listen, what happened there is better left forgotten, no good will come of trying to remember or trying to find out so just stop. I don't think poorly of you Naruto, quite the contrary you have grown up a lot in these years we've been apart, and I admit" Sasuke visibly clenched his teeth "I admit that your skills have improved greatly and we're pretty much equal now. Naruto raised his head a bit "Did he just say he saw us as equals?" Naruto couldn't get over the thought. "All I'm saying is that you don't need to be so hard on yourself all the time. I pressured myself so much in to wanting to break my brother like he broke me, that I lost all sense of reality, and lived only with a single purpose. I didn't care for anything here, nor anyone. Well that's not entirely true, there was one… but that's besides the point." Sasuke covered his slip up as quickly as he could and hoped the blond wouldn't have noticed… too late.

"It's just. It's just, I'm sorry for everything that my leaving put you through, and in all honesty, if I could change things, I would, but unfortunately this is just how things are now." Sasuke had actually apologized, and that fact had not passed over the blond. Naruto felt a slight smile grace his face which had only moments before been contorted in anger. "Thanks Sasuke. I guess with all the secrecy and stuff I just kinda went a bit crazy, your still an asshole for whatever it is that your hiding, and I will find out sooner or later, but I'm glad you at least let me know what's up."

The air around the too boys lightened, but each knew there were still words left unsaid. As the situation cooled the raven and blond alike settled a little more comfortably into the couch, listening to the hard rain drops which beat against the side of the small apartment. Every few moments lighting would strike somewhere off in the distant briefly engaging the apartment in a brilliant flash of white. The thunder boomed across the sky and it was a wonder that either boy could hear themselves think, much less carry a conversation.

"I guess your staying again tonight huh teme?" Naruto gave an award winning smile in the raven's direction. Sasuke couldn't discern whether or not the smile was sincere or forced so he decided to reply shortly "Yeah looks like." Another crack of thunder and some lighting which zig zagged across the sky. "Ne, Sasuke?" Naruto asked coyly, "When I was listening to Sakura at the bath, she was saying that you were looking for someone the night you left, someone that lived around here, and then you said just a minute ago that there was someone you were thinking about before you left. Who was it?" "Fuck" Sasuke screamed inside his head. "I knew he was going to ask that" Sasuke merely stilled himself, hoping the blond would get the hint and leave well enough alone. Fat chance. Naruto slowly closed the distance between him and his teammate, crawling across the couch like a cat on all fours, in less than a second he was in the raven's face, staring the boy down.

"Come on, answer me. Who was she? Do I know her? What's she like? Must be a real special babe if the likes of you is interested…" Naruto continued unrelenting in his quest to find out who the bastard favored in the poor district. "Leave it alone dobe" Sasuke growled, "Just leave it alone." Naruto sat up for a moment with his legs underneath him, he cocked his head to the right and continued his unannounced staring contest with the Uchiha. "Afraid she likes me more? Who could it be?" the blond tapped on his forehead as in thought just for show… "Well it couldn't be Hinata, she lives on the west side, and it's definitely not Sakura…" Sasuke began to clench and unclench his hands. He didn't like where this was going. "Or maybe it's Ino, I always kinda figured you had a blond fetish. TenTen isn't really your type…" Sasuke was confused by the idiot's last statement "Like he knows my type?" Naruto continued his guessing game, hoping for some signal of hot or cold from the Uchiha, why was he being so difficult?

"Temari lives in Sand so it definitely can't be her… Shizune's a little old for you but whatever… well that doesn't really leave anyone else…" at the end of the blonds thought a gigantic crack of thunder whipped across the sky and lit up the apartment for a few moments, the thunder that followed was so responsive it knocked the picture which stood on Naruto's dresser onto the floor. Needless to say it scared the hell out of the blond, and he unconsciously grabbed onto the Uchiha, hugging him tightly and shivering like a new born kitten. Sasuke wasn't fast enough to dodge the blond bullet and found himself with a rather large, and rather heavy teammate sitting on his lap. He smiled at how childish the boy could be sometimes, he then inhaled ever so slightly to see if the idiot smelled like he did that morning. His nostrils were enflamed by a small whiff of the blond, it sent Sasuke reeling in his mind. Figuring it was going to be a while before Naruto disentangled himself from Sasuke, the Uchiha; in a day filled with uncharacteristic actions, reached around and hugged the blond, gently rubbing circles on the blonds back, just like Sasuke's mother had done for him when the lightning frightened a young Sasuke. Naruto was too encompassed in fear to notice Sasuke's movements, yet he felt calmer for some reason and he relaxed his muscles.

Sasuke noticed the blond relax at his touch and moved his right hand into golden hair, he gently rake his finger's across the blonds scalp, being careful to move through the tangles so he didn't hurt the boy in his lap. "What the hell am I doing? I know this is what me and Sakura talked about, but it's just… I never expected it to happen." That's when Sasuke heard the muffled cry. He stopped his soothing for a moment and tried to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Sure enough the blond was crying. "Where does he keep all his tears, my god he's like a little kid?" to this Naruto replied "I am not a little kid ok, it's just that I don't do so well with thunder, you got a problem with that ass?" Sasuke hadn't realized he said the words out loud, so in order to soothe the blond again he resumed his previous massaging. After about ten minutes Sasuke finally worked up the courage to ask Naruto why he was crying, "It's just that, I feel like you don't trust me at all, god Sasuke, you can't even tell me when you like a girl. It doesn't even matter who she is and I probably don't even know her, but your just not man enough to show that you actually care for someone."

Sasuke was taken aback at the blonds resonating words "When did he get so smart.?" He thought. He pulled his hand away from Naruto's hair and gently pulled up the blond boy's chin. "Why does it matter so much to you?" he asked with a smirk on his face? Naruto stared at him for a few seconds and said "I just want to know is all" Naruto then added mentally "so that I can kill her…" this thought scared him so he added another "why do I care who this ass likes? What the hell is going on with me?" Sasuke mulled over whether or not to just come out and say the truth, or to lie, or to ignore the question. "I can't just ignore him when he's sitting on my lap, and I can't lie to him any more than I already am, so I guess the only thing left is to spill. Fuck, it's going to be a long night…" Having finally reached a decision Sasuke centered Naruto's face so he could look the idiot in the eyes when he said this.

"The person I wanted to see that night…" Naruto perked up his ears in anticipation. "The person me and Sakura were talking about was… was…" Naruto was almost bouncing with excitement. "It was you. You're the one."

Silence.

It seemed as though even the weather was shocked at the revelation, because no lightning cracked, and no thunder roared. There was a complete and utter decimation of sound. A black hole of noise.

Silence.

"Well, now you know. It's weird I know, and if you don't ever want to talk about it again, do as you will. But never let it be said that I didn't tell you. " Sasuke was trying to stall the inevitable backlash he was about to receive, he imagined it might be something similar to the reaction he garnered form Sakura, only with less fighting and screaming.

Silence.

For the first time it seemed in ages, Naruto had nothing. No witty comeback, no sarcastic quips. Nothing, he had never expected to hear the words which just left Sasuke's mouth. He had never expected that an emotion he felt so strongly for years, could ever be mutual. His universe was about to rip apart, he just couldn't handle it. It was true that after the teams run in with Zabuza, Naruto had seen the raven in a different light, and in each succeeding mission the feelings just grew faster and harder, to the point the blond thought he wasn't going to be able to keep it in anymore.

Sasuke deciding he wasn't going to get a response from the near comatose patient sitting in his lap made a move to pull the blond off of him. As he grabbed each of Naruto's thighs in order to lift the idiot of his lap, he felt pressure. Pressure on his forearms, he looked down and saw a hand on each of his arms; he followed the lengths up until he was met again with Naruto's face. Naruto had a tear hanging in the corner of each of his eyes; he leaned in gently and placed a chaste kiss on his teammate, just to test the reaction. Sasuke's eyes widened a bit at the unexpected contact, but on instinct moved in with force to meet the blond. The chaste kiss ended with each boy slightly out of breath and panting lightly. Sasuke was the first to speak, "I thought you didn't…" and was cut off as Naruto leaned in again, this time the kiss grew hungrier, harder, and more intense.

The years of pining for someone he couldn't have, for destroying his mind with thoughts of how wrong and disgusting he was and how he should be ashamed of himself. Years of crying into his pillow at night after thinking about how he would be even more of an outcast if he was to ever reveal his feelings. All the pain, sorrow and hurt were lifted with one kiss, a single moment between him and the person he had both admired and hated. It was too much, he couldn't handle it all, he lost himself on the lips of his dream.

Each boy shared the exact same thought as they met passionately.

Even Sasuke got a little teary eyed, though he'd never admit to it.

Naruto was the first to pull away. "So what now teme?" he asked softly. "Where do we go from here?" to which Sasuke replied, "Does it really matter, I finally know that…" Sasuke smiled. Naruto quickly added "Know what?" "I finally know that you're an awful kisser!" and with that the Uchiha did the last uncharacteristic thing of the day, he laughed, and he didn't just smile but he grinned, he laughed so hard his face began turning red, almost the same color as Naruto's. "I am not a bad kisser, I just haven't had a lot of practice, you know what? You're an asshole, here we are having a real special moment, and you have to go and screw it up by making fun of me. You know what you really are a basta…" but before the blond could finish Sasuke had pulled Naruto's head down to his shoulder and laid it softly in the crook of his neck.

"I was just kidding, don't work yourself up so much, your going to make yourself sick." Naruto just simply grunted and was surprised to see Sasuke lean over and kiss his forehead. Sasuke then leaned his head against Naruto's and closed his eyes slowly, the events of the day had worn him down and there was no way he could stay awake another minute. The raven let out a small yawn, to which Naruto replied with an enormous yawn feeling the same effects as his teammate. The two sat on the couch, with Naruto sitting atop Sasuke, with his head in the crook of the Uchiha's neck. Lock's of his golden hair scattering over not only his face but the boy holding him.

Both boys fell into the most comfortable sleep they had had in years.

The last thought that either had was "I'm home."

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A/N So what did you guys think.? I know it gets a little OOC towards the end, but come on there is nothing like this in the actual story… yet… so I had to take a few creative liberties. Anyway please review, as I have said, reviews make chapters happen more frequently. And to all that have reviewed, thank you so much, your words are great and make me proud to know someone is interested and I'm not just wasting your and my time. Also thank you for being concerned about my hands, they are feeling a lot better now thanks to a tip from InuEdbabe (the washcloths do help!) Well that's all for now I think. Ja ne!

Ano, there will be an explanation of the rescue mission and exactly what happened in the flashbacks. There will be at least one chapter dedicated to explaining that night.


	8. That night revisited

Sasuke awoke that morning to birds chirping. He hated birds. But alas, the happily chirping birds were not what awoke him, It was a soft and gentle lick on his lips that roused him form his peaceful sleep. Sasuke awoke groggily, he had been having a rather vivid dream which shifted from him and Naruto cuddling on the couch (yeah the raven knew he was going soft…) to the night he was rescued. He quickly shook off those depressing thoughts and tried to pay mind to the bouncing ball of blond energy currently situated on his lap.

Naruto was bouncing for joy, not because of the night he had spent with Sasuke, but because he was starved! It felt like he hadn't eaten in forever, and he needed food to refuel him. He was at the moment trying to devise a plan to get Sasuke to pay for said meal… This was going to be tricky.

With a devilish grin Naruto tapped the raven on the nose. "Ne, Sasuke, do you know what I want to do right now?" Sasuke merely blinked. He could think of a few things that the blond could do right now, and after the night before, Sasuke wasn't exactly sure he had got his fill. "What's that?" the Uchiha wisped out seductively. Naruto was completely un-phased by the raven's innuendo and screamed as loud as he could…"Breakfast! Let's go! Hold on I have to change. And you should too, you kind of smell funny." Naruto wrinkled his nose and shot up off his black haired companion. As the blond ball of lightening ran towards his room, he spared a glance back into his den and saw an unexpected sight, Sasuke sat on his couch with none other than a very confused look on his face. Naruto could only smirk knowing he finally had something…someone.

Unfortunately for the blond the happiness he had garnered himself wasn't meant to last.

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Sasuke sat back against the couch. "Did he just insult me? God he's like a little kid. Those faces he makes are just… what's the word… cute? Oh God, there's that word again. I really am going soft, what the hell am I going to do? Well what can you do? After last night I just don't know what to think. All this time, I had made myself believe the only reason I even wasted the time of day on Naruto was simply because it was fun to torment him, but could I have just been dodging the truth like Sakura said? What if I really do love him? Would he still love me if he knew the truth, the fact that I froze… when he needed me most." Sasuke was thrown back into that night.

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_Naruto ran down the halls of a darkened mansion, furiously willing his tired limbs to keep moving. He made a quick turn behind him and realized his companions were no longer with him. He had left them in the dense forest which had shrouded the mansion. _

_There was an ambush and they urged Naruto to move along without them, they would take care of things outside and rejoin him when possible. Having seen his opportunity present itself, the young man rushed into a relatively unsecured compound. The Intel he had said that the Uchiha's resting quarters were located somewhere on the third floor, but nothing seemed right, the complex was only on story tall._

_Naruto looked to his right and his left and finally noticed the winding staircase which undoubtedly led downstairs. He bolted for the staircase paying little heed to how many steps he was flying down. As he ran Naruto could hear the faint sounds of laughing growing louder and louder. He finally reached the third floor and again was on the hunt. As Naruto ran he failed to notice the decadent walls with priceless works of art, light fixtures from villages across the globe. Who knew the snake would have such a refined taste?_

_Naruto finally located the sound, he crept along the north wall in the hallway he found himself. Two doors ahead of him stood large gothic styled oak doors, they were both emblazoned with symbols of a forgotten language, and reeked of the snakes decorating tenacity, however, they were slightly ajar. Naruto slid across the wall patiently craning his neck to try and get a better grasp at the conversation which seemed to be taking place within the room._

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_Sasuke was kneeling, teeth grinding tightly, mouth clenched shut. He knew what death felt like, he experienced it every night. Every night he knelt before his surrogate lord, waiting for his newest test. It hadn't been like this in the beginning, when he first arrived Sasuke had been treated with respect and dignity, never did he lift a finger, nor was he ever ordered to accomplish anything. He was left to seethe and be alone with his new 'master' to learn the ways of death and destruction. Now granted Sasuke didn't have such grandiose plans like the snake, no, he had a single mission, and once it was accomplished all of his time spent in the mansion would be merely a means to an end._

_However, as the months went by, the atmosphere around the mansion had changed. It began when Orochimaru had become increasingly aggressive during Sasuke's training sessions. He would hit harder, faster and more accurately. Sasuke had naturally assumed that since the snake's run in with the third had left him slightly disabled, he would be no match for the Uchiha, but Sasuke had underestimated the legendary Sanin, a mistake he was still paying for._

_Bound and accosted on the floor, Sasuke had learned not to move during their 'sessions' it would only make the whole ordeal go on longer, and lend to the satisfaction the snake would gain. "Sasuke-kun, why do you look at me with those eyes? They are filled with not only hatred, but something far more powerful. An emotion I can honestly admit I have never felt for another, love. You came to me in your moment of need, almost without hesitation. I say almost because I watched you before you had ever been privy to my name. I knew your every step, your every conversation, your every thought. Who was it that you cared for? Your apathetic parents, the ones who barely recognized your existence? No. Your brother, the one who you held equally as much contempt as admiration. No, too cliché. Then who?"_

_Sasuke didn't move, he made no attempt to answer, but he couldn't escape his own thoughts. Before he knew it a flash of gold filled his eyes and he remembered a soft childish laugh. It seemed so far away, yet so vivid. He had heard it so many times before but had never appreciated it. He would never admit this but the only thing he missed was that smile. _

_By this point Naruto understood who the voices belonged too and was trying to hold out a few minutes longer while Sakura and Kakashi could catch up. He needed to make sure his timing was perfect._

_The snake almost pranced around the Uchiha. He leaned down behind Sasuke's body and gently rubbed a small circle in the small of Sasuke's back. Sasuke repressed a scowl. The snake did this every evening, trying to wear down the raven, take his reason to live, take anything and everything that Sasuke had to offer, and he was winning. Orochimaru ran his sickly white fingers through Sasuke's hair. He then reached from behind the raven and began to undo the clasps which held Sasuke's robes on. Within a flash the snake had completed the task, having had much practice. _

_Naruto watched through the small opening in the doors he hid behind, he watched as his friend and teammate had his robes slowly removed from his body. Every inch lower that the snakes hands went Naruto had to suppress more and more his urge to enter the hall. He watched Sasuke's body slump forward, it almost seemed as though he was used to this. Lower and Lower went the snakes hands until they were lost inside of Sasuke's loose pants. Naruto didn't need to see the Uchiha's face to know he was scowling. Naruto's veins began to course with venom as he watched his friend being touched like this, obviously not against his will, but that wasn't the point. What Naruto couldn't see was the smirk which was on Orochimaru's face. He had heard the blond walk up to the room and was going to make sure he gave his new guest a brilliant show. _

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Sasuke awoke from his daydreaming at the entrance of the blond. "Ready Teme?" Naruto asked with an air of giddiness about him. "Remember you said you were going to take me to breakfast?" Sasuke could only cock his head to the side and mutter "But you never said I… wait what" Sasuke was almost pissed at how easily the blond could interrupt his line of thinking, but in the same sense saddened by it, the blond was the only one that could make him lose his cool, what would everyone think?

"Yeah, I guess I'm ready. Can I borrow some clothes?" Sasuke almost cringed, in the last week he had worn more of the blonds clothes then he had his own. Naruto simply smiled and ran to his room to get something for the teme to wear. He returned with a black tight fitting T and some loose khaki pants. He tossed them at the Uchiha and busied himself cleaning up.

Naruto was amazed when Sasuke started changing in his living room (Naruto always had been rather shy about his body) he watched the raven out of the corner of his eye. Sasuke's body was flawless, and though Naruto had seen it before, he couldn't help but be amazed by the perfection. He ran his eyes up and down Sasuke's body, trying to take in every little detail "Nice ass" Naruto stated inwardly, or so he thought "Thanks, your not too bad yourself" was the reply that came from Sasuke. Naruto blushed deeply in embarrassment but wasn't about to take back his words. Sasuke started with his shirt, then moved on to his pants. He knew he couldn't ask the blond for any underwear (god knows if he ever did laundry) and his pride stated that he could not wear the same pair two days in a row, so he went without, elegantly stepping out of his boxers and into his borrowed pants. Meanwhile the blond was to stop choking on the water he had been drinking when he got a glimpse of the Uchiha's naked white ass. Sasuke smirked knowing what he did to the blond, and reveled in having that kind of power over the idiot. Just to Torture Naruto, Sasuke tantalizing slow pulled the pants to just below his hips to show just the barest hint of his bottom, he would make the blond wait for that…

Once Sasuke was finished dressing, and Naruto had finally calmed down a bit, they headed for the door and had a very quiet yet nice breakfast at a stall just outside the blond's apartment.

When they had finished eating they walked around the village just quietly thinking in their own separate worlds when suddenly Naruto popped the question Sasuke knew was going to come about sooner or later. "Ne, Sasuke-kun" Naruto blushed at the affection he had unconsciously added to his friends name, this blush also slightly seeped onto the Uchiha's face as well. "This probably isn't the right time to ask, but I've been wanting to since last night. Do you like me?" the blond practically stuttered out the words. Sasuke on the other hand thought about the question seriously. "What do I think, I mean it's clear to me now that I feel something for the idiot, but can I really call it love, I mean I've never been attracted to someone, so I don't know, but then if I've never felt this way about someone else, what else could it possibly be" Sasuke's inner monologue was stressing the blond out "Oh go, he's trying to figure out a way to say last night was an accident and it never should have happened. What was I thinking? Thinking that he could possibly like me, he's an Uchiha for crying out loud, they don't like anyone, especially people of the same sex, there's no way…" Naruto trailed off in though and Sasuke could see the inner conflict. He decided to answer the blond the only way he knew would suffice, he kissed him.

Now no one was more surprised than Naruto, but Sasuke saw his answer as a way to calm the blond, but not commit to anything just yet. He still didn't know exactly what he felt and needed some time to think the situation over. Maybe he could ask someone for some advice. Definitely not Sakura, he couldn't help but cringe at the very thought of what the pink haired girl would say or do when and if he ever asked her. Kakashi would have to suffice.

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A/N Well I know I'm a lot later than I said I would be, and I have no excuse, so there I guess? Anyway this chapter was a lot shorter than it should be but I just wanted to put something up for you guys. If anyone notices mistakes please let me know so I can fix them. Well that's all for now. Review and make me work harder. Ja.

SleeplessLove


	9. Musings

Sasuke left the blond to go do whatever the idiot preoccupied himself with. The raven then decided to just suck up and talk to his scarecrow of a teacher. He walked calmly along the village streets trying to think of what to ask Kakashi, how he could put it in such a way that Kakashi could never hold it against the boy. Sasuke had never done something so… normal in his life, least of which ask someone he knew for relationship advice. As Sasuke was walking and thinking to himself suddenly he felt himself stop abruptly and when he looked up he saw nothing other than the tall lean figure of his mentor and teacher. Surprised Sasuke couldn't think of a thing to say, so Kakashi said it for him.

"So you two finally got together huh?" Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle at the confused face which made itself very apparent on the Uchiha's face.

Sasuke quickly corrected the problem and stood stiffer. "How did you know?" was all the raven could muster with an annoyed face. "It's simple, I've known it would happen all along, and these past couple of weeks you've been acting… very different around Naruto. At first I just assumed it was due to what happened at sound, but after a while I saw the small signs. The quick glances and thoughtful glares, and even now it's written all over you, as though you were holding up a large sign. Plus it doesn't hurt that you answered my question in the affirmative, only giving more power to my previous assumption. Basically you ratted yourself out."

Sasuke glared at his teacher with his mouth slightly agape. "Shit, who knows what he was really asking about, he just wanted to see if I would admit. Damn it." The raven thought inwardly.

"And let me guess now your having problems deciding what to do and how to deal with it right? That is why you were on your way to my apartment was it not?" Kakashi looked almost sympathetic to Sasuke's conundrum. "How did you know?" again all Sasuke could manage to let escape from his mouth. "Because everyone's first relationship is awkward at first it's the name of the game, especially when they really care about the person they are in the relationship with." Kakashi knew better than to push the fact that Sasuke and Naruto were now 'together' for fear that Sasuke would have a change of heart and end up hurting the blond in some way.

The two men just stood there for a moment, contemplating the conversation and strategizing their next moves. They had to be careful, the situation was a delicate one, and if there were to be any irresponsible comments made, it could end a very delicate truce held between the two. Sasuke unknowingly twitched his left and right hand, Kakashi immediately picked up on this and decided to reassure the raven.

"Look don't worry about the right ting to do or say, I have known Naruto for many years and if there's one thing about him that should comfort you, it's that he doesn't always need words, sometimes he just needs to know someone is there, someone who has his back, and if that someone cares for him the way I think you do, everything will be just fine." Kakashi smiled as he saw Sasuke release almost all of his previous tension.

"Well I must be off, I have other things to do, but just remember what I said and you should be fine. Ja!" and like that the scarecrow of a man was gone in a cloud of white smoke leaving Sasuke standing in the middle of the street wondering if he could really make the blond happy, if he had it in him to make the blond smile that smile that could tame beasts. He wondered whether he could ever be the one thing in life Naruto could always count on, he had failed in sound, so what made Kakashi think that Sasuke could really make the idiot happy.

Sasuke was confused, tired, hungry and slightly angry, all at once, he really couldn't understand any of what was happening to him right now, he just needed some rest and he could think about it some more later. He slowly walked back to his manor, his mind craved some clarity but no matter how hard he tried, the cloud in his head just got darker and thicker. As he walked into his house, he put his keys down on the kitchen table, and he slowly stripped himself as he walked towards his bedroom, failing to notice how he was adopting some of the blonds… more interesting habits. Sasuke threw himself on his bed and turned over the past few days events in his mind. He had seen Naruto laugh, cry, get angry, sad and everything in between. But what astonished Sasuke even more was the fact the he himself had also experienced all of these things.

"What is going on with me, how is he doing this?" Sasuke's body tightened and his muscles rebelled against his skin, he twitched slightly and his body began to contort in what appeared to be rage. His hands flew up to his head and he tugged on his hair nearly hard enough to rip it out. Sasuke knew he was losing his mind, nothing seemed to make sense anymore, why was everything so… fucked up? "Now I'm cursing too, what's next?" was all the raven could think.

"Having a problem?" Sasuke stilled immediately, wondering who could possibly be near him, he hadn't sensed anyone, but the voice was definitely not in his head. Sasuke tried to control his breathing, but it was hard to do given the circumstances. "Uh huh, so I see. Well don't you think it's rude to keep a guest waiting?" Sasuke finally realized who it was and relaxed slightly, however using his feet he grabbed a shoe lying near his bed and flung it over his body. He knew he had hit his mark when a loud "TEME!" reached his ears following a deafening thud on the ground just outside his window. He smirked too himself then got up to see his prey, the sight he was met with was not what he had been anticipating, there lay the blond boy, motionless, completely still, Sasuke couldn't see his chest moving, nor could he hear the boy breathing, but worst of all was the fact that Sasuke could see a pool of red liquid beginning to form underneath the idiot. "Fuck, what did I just do!?" Sasuke bolted downstairs, running as fast as he could to find the dobe outside "Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck" Sasuke mouthed through shallow breathes. When he finally reached the side oh the manor under which his window hung, he saw the pool of red liquid, but where was his boy?

"What the hell am I talking about, _my_ boy?" Sasuke was stopped short at the sound of Naruto cursing wildly. "Stupid fucking Uchiha, I try and be nice and bring him a soda, and what does he do, boots me out of his window (**A/N** I like puns… so sue me) stupid jackass…" Sasuke was enraged at first to know that the blond was fine, but had tricked him, but at the same moment he felt something almost… nice, "The dobe actually thought about me…" Sasuke quickly shook himself from the thought. "Not now, I'll deal with this later." Slowly Sasuke walked back around the Uchiha manor and proceeded to walk into his kitchen.

Apparently this day was full of sights Sasuke thought he would never see. What the raven was met with was a stark naked blond wiping up some kind of sugary drink off his chest, abs and let's just say slower extremities. Sasuke's mouth was agape, he didn't want to let the blond stop, but he knew that someone could walk into this sight and raise a few questions Sasuke didn't really want to deal with at the moment. " Dobe what do you think your doing?"

Naruto slowly raised his head obviously unaware of the Uchiha's presence until that particular moment. Naruto made haste in covering himself as quickly as he could with his strewn clothing. "Uhh… gomen, I spilled some juice on myself and it just got everywhere, I just kinda figured you would stay in your room…" Sasuke could do nothing other than stare at the buxom blond and let his right eye continue to twitch. He quickly shook himself from the habit and sighed deeply, almost immediately regretting his decision to let the blond know he was there… "When did I get so perverted? Kakashi is rubbing off on me…"

"Umm could I maybe borrow some clothes Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked coyly. For a brief moment the raven seriously considered his answer, but decided to acquiesce to the blonds request. Sasuke nodded finally and motioned for the blond to follow him to the boy's bedroom. Once there he rummaged through some things and eventually launched some articles of clothing at Naruto. The blond sheepishly accepted what was given to him hurried to find a bathroom in which to get dressed in. When he returned a few minutes later he found something so uncharacteristic within his life, that he could do nothing but pinch himself. "Did I really take that long? I mean I only took a shower, god the bastard could have waited for me at least to get out…" In front of the blond was Sasuke, who was at the moment snoring softly as he lied in his bed, barely covered by the thin sheet which clutched his body tightly. His right arm was sticking straight out and was hanging ever so slightly over the edge of the bed, as his left arm was resting gently against his chest. His chest rose up and down in s oft smooth rhythm that seemed to be all his own. Naruto cautiously crossed the room, trying his hardest not to disrupt the Uchiha's slumber. As he crossed the near barren room in which the raven laid his head, he stripped himself to only the bare essentials, shorts and a t-shirt. He tested the waters slowly by pressing and releasing different spots on the bed to see if he could wake the Uchiha. When his attempts at this failed, he gradually sat himself in the large framed bed, and in a fashion unlike him, and more of a child he placed himself flush with Sasuke, and as soon as the blond was settled and comfortable, the Uchiha's left arm gently slid across and over Naruto's chest, seizing the blond in his light grip, pulling the boy closer to either conserve body heat or to just savor the feeling of being close to someone, for the first time.

Before Naruto finally drifted into a dreamless slumber, he wondered when the last time Sasuke was this close to another person, or whether the raven had ever been this close to another person. "Why can't you tell me? What is it about us, what's this going on between you and me? Can it last, or is it just another something I'm going to fail at? Who knows, but until then sweet dreams." just as the lids of Naruto's eyes were becoming far too heavy to hold up, a very distant and quiet sound caught his ears. "_Na – ru – to forgive me_" however due to the blonds current exhaustion the words were heard, but never registered, alas, maybe he could think more on it another time, but for now the Uchiha was far too comfortable as a sleeping buddy to care. But soon he would get his answers.

A/N Next chapter, finally Naruto and Sasuke find out how the other feels and take the relationship to a new level. However when Naruto regains a piece of his memory at an inappropriate time all could be lost. What will happen? Find out as soon as I fix my computer. Yeah and sorry about this chapter sucking, I've been well, a little under the weather for the past month and story making is not my forte. But as always please read and review to help me suck less. Ja.

Sleepless.


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